The Quirky 1 Percent
by The-Other-Road7
Summary: Kai Akibe is a lonely boy with a gift among gifted people. He is part of a rare group of people who contains more than 1 quirk. As he enrolls in UA he will be forced to use all of his quirks to protect himself and those he grows close to as he attempts to become a hero.
1. Chapter 1

My name is Kai Aribe and I'm a new student at UA. I'm part of the 1% of quirk users. I don't simply have 1 quirk, but multiple quirks. It's a rare phenomena that isn't talked about due to how rare it is. A very small amount of people can be born with multiple quirks, or gain quirks dependent on the environment their mother was in when pregnant.

Most of those with multiple quirks only have 2, but some have more. Obviously it's rarer the more quirks you have. I have 3.

UA is considered the most prestigious hero school in the world and I've been accepted to go to it. UA is responsible for the top 2 heroes in Japan, All Might and Endeavor, although All Might is leagues ahead of Endeavor. I admire All Might, but I'm not star struck by him.

My personality may not mesh well in UA considering I'm typically not one to standout or socialize. I kind of just go about my thing, but I want to do this so I can help people.

The first day of class was a little nerve-racking. I got into the 1-A class which is good, but apparently my teacher, Mr. Aizawa who is also known as Eraserhead, is tough. When he speaks, it's almost monotone as if he doesn't want to be here. I look around the class and see my classmates. Well, except for the invisible girl. Nobody really struck me except for the boy with a burn mark on his eye. I wonder what his story is.

Mr. Aizawa started class telling us to behave and that he would be conducting a series of tests to see where we stand. Oh and that the worst performer would be kicked out of the school.

Cool. I'm not nervous at all. Nope, not one bit. Ugh.

Before the tests began nearly all of the students were muttering to each other about Aizawa and these tests. A couple doubted that he'd actually expel someone on the first day, but another student said she heard Aizawa was a strict teacher. That doused any hope that he was just lying about expelling someone

During the series of tests I find myself unable to do the best, but I don't really want to. My strongest quirk is not fit for any of these tests nor do I want to show everyone it. As far as everybody knows my quirk is Unbreakable Bones. My bones can not break. It affords me a good amount of strength but nothing too noticeable. My other quirks I can keep hidden.

It's clear from the tests who are the standouts. The boy with the burn scar on his face, Shoto Todoroki, and the very arrogant Katsuki Bakugo. However, this other boy with green hair, Izuku Midoriya, stood out in the ball throw test even though he came in last. Luckily for him, Mr. Aizawa was indeed lying about expelling the student who came in last. He wanted us to do our absolute best.

During the rest of the school day I couldn't help but think about Midoriya and his strange quirk. His quirk allows him to muster an insane amount of power but he can't control it. It's like a kid who just learned how to ride a bike. But he's 15. How can this be?

When the school day was over I accidentally bumped into Bakugo and quickly apologize. It didn't mattr because he let me have it anyways as I looked into his rage-filled eyes. "I apologized already, so I'll be going now."

He grabbed my arm and barked as I closed my fist ready to fight back, "You don't turn your back on me."

The green-haired boy jumps in to stop the incident from getting out of hand, "Kacchan, stop. He didn't mean it and he apologized."

"Shut it, Deku."

I watched as several others, including Todoroki, watch on but say nothing. A girl named Uaraka stood next to Midoriya, and judging by her breathing she seemed nervous. Midoriya was also nervous as he was slightly trembling, and that together with the nicknames they had for each other it was clear Izuku and Katsuki had history.

I glared at Bakugo, unsure of what he was going to do. His eyes were steady and so was his breathing. He didn't get satisfaction from this, it was just who he was; explosive, like his quirk. He's all bark.

I unclenched my fist and swiftly pulled out of his grip. Soon after, Aizawa came over and scolded us. "Cut it out you two. I'd hate to have to kick you both out of the school for a childish reason." I nod and walk away from the scene.

As I walk home I can hear footsteps and some panting behind me. I only turn around when I hear someone call my name. It was Midoriya.

"Uh hey, um your name is uh-"

"Kai Aribe," I say embarrassed.

He smiled greatly and nodded, "Okay, Kai."

"So is there something I can do for you?" I asked.

"I just want to apologize for Kacchan's actions. He's a bit of a hothead."

I almost chuckled, "I gathered as much. He's not exactly hero-like."

I notice Midoriya skip a breath just before shaking his head. He was slightly shocked I would say that, which he confirms. "That's not it. He wants to be a hero. He admires All Might. He's just a bit much about how he goes about it."

Chuckling I reply, "All Might is well liked. Bakugo won't be at this rate." This caused Midoriya's eyes trail away. He cared about this headcase but it didn't seem like they were friends based on how Bakugo treated him.

"I'm sorry for saying that about your friend. I'm clearly missing something," I say trying to mean the words that came out. The green haired boy smiled, appreciating my apology.

We walked together for a bit in silence, well he spoke and I just listened. I actually enjoyed his company. Something about him makes him very inviting. I don't know if it's his soft tone or smile.

"So your quirk," I begin to ask. "You can't control it?"

He shakes his head as he looks down at the ground as if he was disappointed in himself. "Why not?"

"It's hard to describe. I have all of this power inside me but I can't let it out without hurting myself."

He looked unsure if that even helped me understand it and to be honest I'm not sure I understand it any more than I already did. It still didn't answer how a UA student can't control his own quirk even at a basic level. He broke his finger. Even if he just discovered this quirk, it's strange how he got into UA then. Rescue points be damned, he needs to get a grip on this power.

"What if I can help you?" I ask him and also ask myself because I said those words without even thinking how I can actually help him.

Midoriya's big smile instantly makes me feel guilty. He's excited. He nods his head furiously.

"Uh..." I drone on saying when I get a eureka moment. "My quirk. It allows me to act like a punching bag. You can punch me."

He seemed confused, "But wouldn't you get hurt?'

I nodded, "Yeah, but my bones won't break. As long as you don't kill me I'll be fine."

That sounded a lot more reassuring in my head.

He didn't seem convinced as his face dropped, "Eh. It doesn't change the fact that I'll break my body when I hit you."

"So hit me without your quirk. Then learn how to eek out some of that power you have boiling up. Think of it like a pressure cooker."

He began muttering to himself. I looked around as people started looking at us as if we were crazy. What the hell is he doing? I grab him by the neck and drag him into an alley way.

"Dude, chill out with the muttering in public please? Especially if you are with me."

He rubs his head nervously, "Haha sorry. I-uh tend to do that. But about your proposal. I just don't know if it is feasible for me at this time. Can I think about it?"

I nod. I just had this weird urge to help him and I don't know why. It brought a smile to my face knowing I could help him.

"Thanks, Kai. I really appreciate it."

We walked together for a few minutes and talked about our favorite heroes. I didn't really have a favorite but he was very much a big fan of All Might, which is cool. When we split up I couldn't help but notice I hated him not longer walking beside me.

I haven't had a friend in years. I've been living in this town for about 5 years and have kept to myself. I walked into my small apartment and placed my bag on the chair. My cat, Sora brushed up against my leg.

As I fed my cat I prepared myself some ramen, which was normal. I don't have a lot of food nor can I afford a variety of foods, so ramen is my choice of food.

This is my life. My cat, which I found on the street when she was just a kitten, a small apartment and myself. No friends. No family.

* * *

_**I hope this was a good start to the fic and a good way of introducing an OC. As you can tell I'm going to use the anime's timeline as a bit of road map for the fic, but the outcomes and certain things that occur will be different. So you'll know where this story plots are going to be heading but you aren't going to know the result. The addition of an OC, will help with that.**_

_**As for the structure of the story telling I've gone with 1st person with a focus on the OC. However, I will write chapters or switch in the middle of chapters between 1st person views of other characters like Midoriya. A part of me wants to utilize 3rd person every once and a while, but I don't want to make a mess of it.**_

_**Anyways, I don't know how frequently I will update this. At the very least my goal is to update once a week, but knowing me I may throw in 2 chapters a week. Feel free to leave any criticisms or questions in reviews or just pm me. I will respond back.**_


	2. Chapter 2

The next day of class was clearly going to test my abilities and personality. We received our uniforms, mine being probably he least flashiest of them all, and headed over to Grounds B where All Might was.

In the meantime, Bakugo decided to pick on my hero uniform. It is mostly navy black with two white stripes that went around by abdomen. I didn't exactly give the school much direction since I don't know what I want my hero look to be. I didn't want to standout.

I ignored Bakugo but I caught a glance from Todoroki. He might be as quiet as I am between all of our classmates.

All Might gives us a little chat about what it takes to be a hero before going into the task at hand. He is going to split us up into teams of two in which two teams, the villains and the heroes, will face off against each other.

Midoriya is teamed up with Uraraka. Meanwhile, I am teamed up with Todoroki and I'm not sure how I feel about it, but at least I have a good partner. My team will be going up against Rikido Sato and Mezo Shoji.

The first match up is Midoriya/Urarakaup against Tenya Iida and Bakugo.

So much for saving the best for last.

Meanwhile, Todoroki and I were to due after them, which will be a tough task to follow.

It was clear in watching Midoriya and Bakugo that they are both strategic and intelligent. It surprised me watching them utilize their quirks in smart ways, even though Midoriya was breaking his body.

In the end it was explosive but Midoriya baited Bakugo into going toe-to-toe which allowed Midoriya to focus on the task at hand. He didn't have to beat Bakugo in a fight, he just needed to complete the objective. He used his quirk to create a whirlwind directly above him allowing Uraraka to get past Iida and onto the weapon.

Bakugo got mad at Midoriya, who's arm is broken. He picked him up by his shirt and shouted, "You bastard. You were supposed to hit me with everything you got!"

Midoriya seemed to be too hurt and tired to respond. It looked like he mouthed something but we couldn't hear what he said. Bakugo tossed him to the ground and let out a scream.

I shook my head and muttered, "He really seems like a villain."

Todoroki, who was standing next to me, agreed. "Indeed, but Midoriya sticks up for him."

"I guess I'll have to trust him. For now."

Todoroki and I shared a glance of understanding.

Meanwhile, All Might congratulates Midoriya and Uraraka as they came out of the test area. I noticed something different with him due to my quirk. During the fight his body's girth, specifically in his arms were about 12.5% more expanded. His right arm is broke so it's no use comparing it to his battle state, but his left arm isn't. His quirk allowed him to bulk up instantly as if it funneled his power there. What an interesting quirk.

I spot All Might look over at Midoriya as if he's concerned. He could've stopped the fight but he didn't and now he's concerned. Can't tell if that makes him a good or bad teacher, but I respect it nonetheless.

It was time for the next two teams to take their places. Todoroki and I were the heroes. Our strategy was simple. We agreed it would benefit the other team if Sato was guarding the rocket. it would require Todoroki to focus his ice attack in a more tame way. Shoji would present a more challenged fight in a corridor because of his ability to create multiple arms. He's also very astute. In the end it would a battle of strength with Sato guarding.

However, that is not what happened. Todoroki and I walked through a large corridor and Sato appeared.

"That's a mistake," Todoroki said placing his hand up.

I put my hand on his arm and pushed it slightly down as I walk up. "Give me 30 seconds before you turn this place into the north pole."

"Are you crazy? You don't have the strength to over power him."

"Well thank god he can't break my bones then," I say with a smirk.

Until now I haven't stood out. It's been all about Todoroki, Midoriya and Bakugo. With that comes attention from our teachers and that includes All Might, who is here. I may not want to stand out in general but I do want All Might to notice me. I know my classmates talk about me behind my back about how quiet and mysterious I am. This will only further that talk, but I'm okay with that. I'm here to be a hero and a little attention from All Might will help.

I walk towards Sato, who's body has expanded by about 23.18%. He's had quite a bit of sugar to power himself up. I've never been punched by someone this strong, so I'll get to see how my body holds up to an attack.

Sato reaches back and sends his fist flying towards me. As I brace myself for impact I take notice how he places his feet and contorts his body. I can see that his punch will hit me in my right forearm, just below my UCL.

My arm absorbs the punch, but it hurts. The punch also sends me back a few feet but I shake it off and walk towards him again.

Sato looked confused but he reaches back again. As he contorted his body to send his upper body forward to punch me, I quickly side-step causing him to move his eyes. This confuses his feet causing him to react off balance. I then land a quick punch to his ribcage before grabbing his arm and slamming him into the wall which he breaks through.

My punch allowed me to see how much his body can withstand and how strong I am. I realize I'm not that strong to hurt him that much. He'll be bruised but it's likely I didn't break a rib. He gets up and comes back at me with the same attack. The result ends the same as well. He crashes through the opposite wall and huffs when he gets up.

His next attack is different. He's just charging me but I don't know what he is going to do and how exactly his body is going to move. Is he going to grab and tackle me or grab and slam me down? Or some completely different option.

He goes for the grab as I stand in front of him. I let him pick me up and as I hear Todoroki yell at me, I twitch my body and grab Sato's right arm. I contort myself and place my knee behind his head. With all of the unsettling movement, Sato falls down face first causing my knee to slam into his head.

"Ice him now!" I yell at Todoroki who quickly ices the floor and Sato below me.

That's one down and one to go.

Todoroki shot me a look and said, "That was unexpected."

"Good,' I say with a chuckle. "With all due respect to you, I can't let you hog all of the glory here today."

"Understood, but I get Shoji."

With a smile I say, "Be my guest."

We enter the large room where Shoji is guarding the missile. He wasn't expecting both of us here, "Sato couldn't take one of you out?"

Todoroki to a step forward and pointed his thumb at me "Mystery boy here took care of him."

As Shoji and I look at each other I decide to walk away from Todoroki to the other side of the room. I'm curious if Shoji will take the bait, but he doesn't. Todoroki then takes a few steps forward and says, "There's no point, Shoji. If I can't get by you, he will." Todoroki looks at me as if he was telling me to take a couple steps up so I do. It's surprising how compatible we are.

Todoroki is so calm. His breathing hasn't sped up or slowed down at all. Meanwhile, Shoji's has. I decide to take a quick few steps forward which distracts him enough for Todoroki to grab and freeze him.

Todoroki touches the rocket and soon after All Might come up on the loudspeaker and congratulates us. As we exit the test facility we hear some murmuring from some of the students. Iida and Uraraka come up to me and say that I was impressive.

"I didn't know you had such a fantastic fighting technique. It was so cool," Uraraka said.

"Exemplary," Iida added.

"It was nothing. I got a little lucky," I respond back.

All Might interrupted, "Nonsense my boy. That was skill. I know skill when I see it. Don't sell yourself short." His thumbs up makes me smile.

I could only mutter a weak, "Thanks," even though my goal had been fulfilled here.

"Psh, Todoroki could've handled that quicker. You should've let him handle Sato," a dismissive and obnoxious Bakugo said.

I shrugged, "Just like you should've handled Deku?"

That pissed off Bakugo but I enjoyed watching him squirm and some of our classmates chuckle. Bakugo's ego and pride is too massive and I'm not scared to knock him down a peg or two.

Before he could say anything, Todoroki interjected. "It's not about me. He wanted a chance to prove himself during this test, which he deserved."

Bakugo scoffed but didn't say anything. Before I could thank Todoroki for defending me, someone tapped my shoulder. Sato appeared in front of me as I turned around. He seemed embarrassed. "Um good job back there. I didn't think you could do that."

"You are strong, Sato. Very strong, but brute strength isn't everything."

Sato looked down, disappointed himself. "I know."

"Good, then you have nothing to be ashamed about. We're all learning here, right? None of us are perfect."

"Yes!," Iida exclaimed. "Wise words from the, uh, mystery kid here."

"It's Kai," I say anxiously.

"Ah right, Kai. Wise words from him indeed. We should all heed that and become better students," he exclaims with his arm pointed in the air.

This is our class representative. I didn't vote for him, but his enthusiasm is refreshing even if it's a bit much.

When classes ended I made an effort to find Todoroki. When I did I thanked him for giving me a chance. He looked at me, nodding, and said, "I meant what I said. You deserved it. But I also allowed you to do what you did so I could see more of your quirk and capabilities."

"I get that. Either way, I'm grateful."

"You really are a mystery. Nobody knows who you are. They didn't even know your name until today."

I sighed. "Yeah I know. You're a mystery too if I say so myself."

His glance at me was different. It betrayed the reserved personality I have taken note of in such a short time.

"My father is Endeavor," he said plainly. He didn't say anything else nor did it seem like he had anything to say. His words said a lot even though he didn't.

"I don't know who my father is...or was," my voice trail off as I look away.

"I'm sorry," he said as he walked away from me. I couldn't tell what his mood was because it always seems the same. I don't think it went poorly.

I'm just glad he didn't ask about my mother.

* * *

_**A/N: So in putting out my 1st chapter I totally forgot how this changes some of the formatting when I copy and paste the text. So this led to the chapter looking like a hot mess, especially towards the end. I did fix that on Tuesday and I hope to not make that mistake again. Anyways, I have no clue what my upload schedule will be. I've written 13 chapters so far, but this is just the 2nd one I'm uploading. I will stick to 1 per week at least. However, if you read my previous fic you would know I couldn't help but upload several times a week. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this. Chapter 3 should be uploaded on Sunday.**_


	3. Chapter 3

***Kai's POV***

It's been a couple days since the training exercise with All Might. We haven't really done much in class but tomorrow we're apparently heading to the USJ to do some intense training.

I've been getting involved socially a little bit more with some of the classmates. Mostly just Midoriya and his friends, but I'm undoubtedly still an outsider. I still get some weird looks and stares but nothing like before.

I've wanted to talk to Todoroki but I've been too nervous to do so. Meanwhile, he doesn't seem to want to talk to anybody. He just wants to go about his business, which I get but it's gonna hinder him. He's just like Bakugo without the maniacal personality.

Then again, who am I to judge. I'm not a social butterfly myself, but at least I'm trying.

Today we have the day off so Midoriya and I decided we would hang out a bit. Maybe go shopping, but I don't exactly have money to spend.

Any money I get goes to my landlord and food for Sora and I. To be honest that's not even enough. My landlord is nice. His name is Mr. Yairobi and he let me stay in a vacated apartment above him until I got a job. Once I turned 13, I got a job as a delivery boy. Weirdly, my boss works under Mr. Yairobi's daughter, Shinta.

I know I don't pay the rent that I would pay if I were anyone else, but I do my best. I have maybe 161 bucks in my bank account along with the $23 I have in my wallet. These are the cards I was dealt and I'm dealing with it.

It's strange living in an apartment by myself since I was 11. I lived on the street for a while I got by until Mr. Yairobi found me. He should've contacted authorities to put me in an orphanage but I pled with him not to. He decided to pay for my school tuition. I don't know why he let me stay in an apartment by myself rather than with him, but I'm forever grateful.

***Izuku Midoriya's POV***

I'm on the way to the Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall when Kai messages me letting me know that he is already there. I tell him that I'm about 10 minutes away on a bus.

This is the first time I'm gonna hang out with him and I'm excited. He's been hanging with my friends and I at school but it's clear that he doesn't feel like he belong. Everyone likes him, but we're all curious about him.

Yesterday Uraraka and I were walking home and talked about him. "That kid, Kai, what do you know about him?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. He doesn't really tell me anything."

"Oh. I saw Todoroki and him chatting after school yesterday. They seem to be getting along."

I thought that was funny. "In a way that's kind of fitting." I could tell Uraraka was conjuring up some kind of plan so I told her to spill it.

"Well, what if you reach out to him? Maybe hang out and see if you can get to know him." I felt uneasy when she added, "Then you can tell us what you find out."

Personally, I like Kai. He's a bit quiet and mysterious but he's also nice. He saw my little fan book where I write stuff down about heroes and even my classmates. He didn't dismiss or make fun of me like some people have, instead he said it was cool and I really appreciated that.

"Okay, but what should we do?" I ask.

"Go to the mall? Go to the park and hang out?"

I sighed. "Hmm I guess we can go to the mall."

And so here I am going to the mall to meet with him. Another reason I have for going to see him is All Might. All Might came to see me at the hospital as my arm healed after the exercise he ran. He didn't want to talk about anyone except Kai. All Might seemed excited and very curious about his fighting style and how he was able to calculate Sato's movements to near perfection. He even asked me if I knew anything about him, and when I said I didn't he implored me to reach out to him. He didn't outright ask me to spy for him, but that was the feeling I got. However, All Might mentioned how alone Kai looked and that motivated me to meet him more than anything. When I arrived to the mall I spotted Kai sitting down on a bench. When he saw me, he smiled and got up.

"So where do you want to go?" I ask.

He shrugs, "Not sure. I don't really come here very often."

"Oh really? I've been coming here a lot since I got into UA. Uraraka likes to come here."

He turned to me and asked if Uraraka and I were dating and I could literally feel my heart stop and then explode. Before I can say anything he quickly apologized for asking such a personal and embarrassing question.

"It's fine, Kai. She's just my friend. She's a very good friend. She was the first person beside my mother to actually believe in my dream to be a hero." I carefully didn't mention All Might.

He kept a glance on me for a moment and then looked away. "That's good. It must be nice to have someone believe in you."

He didn't say it outright, but his tone told me more than he probably wanted. "Do your parents not support you?"

Kai didn't respond right away. "Not really."

It brought the mood down to the point where we just didn't talk for a good 5 minutes, so I attempted to fix it. "Guess we both asked stupid questions to get to know each other, huh?"

He chuckled, which brought instant relief to me. "Basically. I'm not great with social situations. I don't really have friends because I'm quiet. People don't care to make an effort and when I try to I just make a fool out of myself." I felt bad for him.

He must've saw my face give away what I was thinking because he quickly added, "Don't feel bad for me. I'm fine."

"Well we can be friends." I genuinely respond.

He smiles and says, "I would like that."

So we went through the mall for a couple hours and we didn't really buy anything. He did buy a small toy for his cat, Sora. He seemed very happy to buy it too, which was sweet. Meanwhile, we talked about heroes for so long. He was a big fan of Eraserhead and I can see why. His knowledge of heroes surprised me as well. To be honest everything from our conversations surprised me. As time passed it was less me asking questions and probing him and more just normal chit-chat.

He's just quiet because he's shy. Nothing really mysterious about that. It's just a big misunderstanding compounded by his showing at the training exercise.

Once we finished in the mall I thought I was gonna go home and that was it for the day, but then he asked if I wanted to come to his place and have dinner. I had no reason to say no even though I can tell he was unsure if he really wanted to make that offer.

We went to a small town about 15 minutes from the mall to small condos. There was a middle aged man outside one of them who waved at Kai. Kai waved back and said, "Hello Mr. Yairobi."

"Is this your friend, Midoriya?"

So he knew my name.

"Yup."

Mr. Yairobi shook my hand with a strong grip and welcomed me. "It's good to see a friend of young Kai here."

We walked up the stairs and got to Kai's apartment. I heard him sigh as he turned the door knob and opened the door. Inside it looked very basic. There wasn't much to it outside of your standard simple kitchen and living room furniture. There wasn't a table, which I mentioned.

"I don't need a kitchen table. I have that coffee table and a small desk in my room for when I'm on my computer."

On the far side of the room was a large window with a simple light blue curtain half open. Below the window, on the floor, was a orange striped cat who just got up from it's bed. It approached us and jumped up on the kitchen counter. Kai was smiling from ear to ear as he spoke in a childish voice to his cat.

"I found her off the street a couple years ago. She's a sweet cat," he said as he pet her. He handed her the toy he brought and she had a ball with it.

"I'm sorry for inviting you here when I don't exactly have dinner to prepare. You see all I have here are apples and a bunch of ramen. I can order some take out if that's okay with you."

We agreed to order some take out, but when the delivery person arrived, Kai seemed a little on edge.

I heard him speak in a low voice to the girl at the door, "Moira, this is all I have. Can you tell Shinta or Joro, I'll work extra time for free tomorrow to make up for it?"

The girl grunted but said, "Fine, but I want a tip."

I got up and took a few bucks and handed it to her. Kai looked at me and smiled. I didn't want to show him up, because he's the host and usually the host wants to pay for the food. I just couldn't sit on his couch and let him make a compromise.

"Sorry," I said once he closed the door on the girl.

"It's fine. It's my fault for buying that toy for my cat. So, uh, basically what I'm saying is thank you," he says with a nervous laugh.

My day with Kai was amazing, far different than I thought it would be. We talked about so many things that we liked and didn't like and got to know each other. However, it took a turn at night when he finally opened up about something I briefly touched on with my first question to him. What he shared with me would change everything.

"You remember how you asked me if my parents supported me trying to become a hero?" His tone was so different, it was shaky and low. Vulnerable. I nodded my head.

"Well um I lied when I said not really. My mom supported me up until I was like 9 or 10."

Supported. Past tense. My throat began to lock up as I feared what he was about to say. Little did I know I wasn't ready for it.

"She was killed in a blast. There was a villain fighting against a pro and the villain caused a massive blast near my home. I survived but...but she didn't." My heart froze as I stared at Kai struggling to deal with the words that he just said. He looked at me and smiled lightly. It was the most painful smile I've ever seen.

"You're the first person I've told about this. The only one who knows. I don't have a family. It's just my cat and me. My dad left my mom when I was born. He didn't want me."

"I'm so sorry, Kai," I say trying to absorb the gravity of his words. I watch him struggle not to cry.

"It's fine, Midoriya. I'm getting through it. To be honest UA is the only reason I have to live for. I want to be a hero. I want to help people in need, especially kids."

I got up from chair I was sitting in and approached Kai who was desperately trying to put a brave face on. I didn't know what else to say so I just went with my instinct and hugged him.

He cried and said nothing more for a couple minutes.

When the moment passed he apologized for ending the night on such a negative note. I told him not to worry because everything he told me must've been such a huge weight on him. To feel like you have nobody to talk to and unload such a traumatic event is so hard, I can't even imagine. He needed a friend, a shoulder to cry on. A shoulder I was willing to give to him, a shoulder I had to. There's nothing negative about that.

I told him that if he ever needed anything that he can come to my place. If he needed food, my mom would happily make him some.

As I walked down the stairs from his apartment a door on the first floor opened. The old man from before, Mr. Yairobi, came out.

"Would you like me to call for a taxi? It's a bit late for you to be walking home, no?"

I nodded and he welcomed me into his apartment where he offered me tea. He pointed to a small container of butter cookies and told me to have some while he called the taxi. After hearing what Kai was telling me, it seems that Mr. Yairobi was the person who helped him out.

"I haven't seen that boy smile like he did today in all they years I've known him," Mr. Yairobi said as he sipped on his green tea.

"How long is that?"

He smiled, but one that someone makes when they are sad about what they are going to say, "4 years now. He's never had a friend. Then today he talked about how he was going to the mall to meet up with a friend. He was happy and nervous at the same time."

I watched as Mr. Yairobi's smile disappeared. "He's a good boy, who's been dealt a horrible hand. I've always thought he had a great knack for judging people, and it seems he was right about you. You may not realize it, but today was an important day for him. He let you break his walls down. He's left himself vulnerable and for someone like him that's a horrifying state to be in."

I didn't know what to say or how to react. I just looked at the tea in my hands and for a moment it looked like the tea became murky. "I shouldn't have said that to you. It's not right for me to put you in that position. I'm so-"

"I'm not going to hurt him," I interrupt. "He's my friend, and he's not going to be alone anymore."

Mr. Yairobi looked into my eyes and smiled. He looked outside as a taxi pulled up to the curb and walked me outside. He spoke to the taxi driver whom he seemed to know and handed him cash. As the taxi drove off I couldn't help but look up to Kai's window and see the light blue curtain. Looking down was Sora, his cat.

The next day, before class, Uraraka came up to me and asked about our night.

"It was good. I had fun."

She seemed happy, but she asked if there was anything interesting about him.

"Nah, he's just like us. He's just shy."

I wasn't going to tell anyone what he told me. I couldn't and I didn't want to. I can't describe how much it meant to me for him to trust me with something so personal. I couldn't help but cry last night when I got home and be grateful for what I had.


	4. Chapter 4

***Kai's POV***

My mind has been really clouded since hanging out with Midoriya. I've been a specific state of loneliness for so long this new found sense of living and friendship is foreign to me. I'm unsure how to go about it, but I know I mustn't revert back. Midoriya is a good person and his friends are great too.

I had to look at myself in the mirror and relax myself. I fiddled with my light brown hair way too much that eventually I just had to say, "Fuck it. It's always messy anyways."

Coming into the school today was a little nerve-wracking. I was sorta worried Midoriya told his friends about what I told him, but I knew in my heart he didn't. His friends didn't treat me all that different, but Midoriya did. On the bus to the USJ we sat next to each other with Uraraka and Iida across from us.

We shared a few laughs together as I felt like I finally belonged, but that really wasn't it. I was just more comfortable because of Midoriya. I was able to be more me.

When we got to the USJ, Thirteen and Aizawa gave us a rundown of what we were going to be doing. However, before they could finish a blackish hole appeared in the center of the facility. Out of the hole came dozens of villains. Aizawa was quick to tell us to stay back and let him and Thirteen handle everything, but once he went down to deal with them it became clear these villains wanted to hurt us as well.

A blackish almost purple mist warps in front of us. A voice and some sort of shape forms from it. He announces himself as Kurogiri, a member of the League of Villains.

"Our goal is to kill All Might," he says ominously.

Most of the students are trembling. We don't know how to act, well most of us anyways. Bakugo and Kirishima quickly jump from their position and charge the villain, but to no avail. They go right through him. The villain covers us in his mist and when it lightens up we realize that half of us have disappeared.

Kurogiri laughs as Thirteen demands to know where the students are. Meanwhile, I notice Midoriya and Todoroki are missing. My heart is racing. I want to fight back but I don't know where to start. I begin to become overwhelmed by everything I'm seeing that I miss some plan that was concocted. Iida is running towards the entrance of the building as the villain, Kurogiri, chases him down. As this happens a couple more villains, who have gotten by Aizawa, have made there way up to us.

One of the villains throws a fist at me but misses so I punch him back. Sato comes up next to me and helps me deal with the villains coming up. At this point my current abilities won't keep up. I'll have to use my other quirk, a quirk I'm trying to keep hidden.

Before I do I hear a loud bang, Iida has made his way out the door. Meanwhile, Thirteen is attempting to use her quirk to take care of Kurogiri, but it backfires horribly leaving Thirteen barely alive on the ground.

All over the facility I can hear multiple battles taking place. Several loud explosions occur in the distance as a result of these battles. To the right of the center area, I spot Midoriya with Asui and Mineta. They seem to have handled the villains around them but there are many more at the center where Aizawa is. A bit further away I can spot two more villains, villains who seem to be watching.

That makes them the strongest ones. They must be the ones who will try and kill All Might, who isn't here. Before I can blink again, I'm hit hard in the face and sent flying down to the ground off the entrance platform. When I wake up I am surrounded by villains.

"Ah the boy finally arises," a villain with a large steel hammer says. Another villain with knives for hands looks on at me with a grin. Behind them I can see Midoriya.

He's on the ground writhing in pain. Next to him is Aizawa who is knocked out and bleeding from his face. Midoriya yelled out in pain as the bigger villain punched him. Todoroki attempted to help defend Midoriya with an ice attack but the villain quickly dealt with it. In a matter of seconds the villain moved and cracked Todoroki in the face sending him flying.

I snapped. I focused my mind and energy into my hands and held them up at the two villains in front of me. With my hands I created two light blue energy blasts and fired them. I used the explosions to mask my escape.

As I approached the center of the facility the large villain stood still unsure what to do next. Meanwhile, another villain, with a large rock-like body, approached a withered Todoroki. I didn't know what to do when the large villain walked over to Midoriya, so I lifted my arm and fired another blast at it as I ran towards a defenseless Todoroki.

The rocky villain swung at Todoroki just as I got there. I tackled Todoroki getting him out of the way. I quickly stood up to take stock of the situation at hand. The big villain was coming towards me, clearly annoyed that I attacked it. The rocky villain nearby went to hit me but I braced myself lifting both my arms up to cover my face. Because I was able to brace myself I was able to grab his arm and blow it up. Then I quickly blasted him in the abdomen sending him flying just before the big villain tackled me into Todoroki.

Todoroki and I were sent several meters away. He was in bad shape, bleeding from his right arm and forehead. This other villain, one with hands on his body and face began to laugh.

"That's my beautiful Nomu. Kill them all!"

Shit. I had to act fast.

"Todoroki, create an ice shelf that directs you to the entrance of the USJ."

"What, why?" he yelled confused.

I shook my head angrily, "Just do it! Trust me!"

When he created the body length ice shelf I told him to lay down. I gave him instructions to keep creating ice under him so he would get away. He laid down, head facing up towards the entrance, with his feet towards the ground. I quickly got down and blasted below his feet. I knew it was going to hurt him but it sent him flying and as he flew he created ice directly under him for support. The blast didn't give him a lot of momentum because I had to conserve energy and also not blow his feet off. But my problems were a lot more immediate than expected.

The Nomu was right in front of me and he was going for a punch. I was able to use my eye quirk to dodge and blast his side, but it did nothing. It didn't hurt nor leave a scratch on him. The Nomu was fast, faster than I reacted. It punched me hard in the stomach and sent me flying causing me to land next to Midoriya.

"K-kai...are you okay?" Midoriya whimpered. His body was broken. He must've used his quirk when I was knocked out.

"Just peachy," I say. My body hurt a lot, but I couldn't stay down. I had to protect Midoriya. The heroes had to be close.

"Don't. Stay down," Midoriya pleaded.

I looked down at him and shook my head. "I won't let him hurt you." I pushed my hand together and focused what was left of my energy. I was tired and trembling in pain but I needed one more blast. A big one.

When I felt the tension in my hands I pulled them apart while twisting them. A small but bright light blue energy blast formed. I thrusted my hand forward yelling "Big Bang Blast!" The attack created a whirlwind of dirt and gravel flying towards the Nomu.

The Nomu was stopped in it's tracks and sent backwards, but in the end it didn't do much of anything. It barely left a scratch. The Nomu charged at me and was preparing to punch me, but I just stood there.

Better me than Midoriya I thought to myself.

I braced myself and closed my eyes and waited for the attack. With my eyes close I felt something fly past me and then heard a grunt. When I opened my eyes I saw him.

All Might.

He turns his head slightly, with a smile, and says "Take young Midoriya and get to safety. This will be over soon, because I am here."

Everything else after that is a bit of a blur. I remember picking Midoriya up and getting close to the stairs but my mind was shutting down and so was my body. I had used up too much energy in my attacks. What I remember next is being in a hospital bed.

Sitting next to me in a chair was Todoroki. He stood up and asked if I was okay.

"How long have I been out?" I notice he has bandages on his arm and forehead so I couldn't have been out for long.

"Just a couple hours. All Might dealt with the Nomu and the rest of the teachers arrived. 2 of the main villains got away though."

I sighed in relief. "And Midoriya?"

"He's fine and awake. He's in the other room."

There was a moment of silence between us as Todoroki walked to the front of my hospital bed and then to the window where the sun was setting.

"You saved my life. Why?"

To be honest I didn't know exactly why. We've had one conversation and that was it, but there was something in my mind screaming at me to help him. "You were hurt and I was in a position to help you so that was my priority. I don't know."

Todoroki stared at me and then looked away. "Thank you," he said quietly.

A few moments later he walked to the door of my hospital room, but before he left he had something else to say. "Some of our peers are talking about your newly found quirk. We all thought your quirk was that your bones can't break. Clearly that's not the case since you've been hiding this ability from us. Why?"

There was no point in lying to him.

"You can't tell anybody, okay?" He didn't say anything and that annoyed me. "Todoroki, I'm serious."

He nodded slightly, "Okay, out with it."

I took a deep breath. "Unbreakable bones is my quirk. Those energy blasts I created were, um, also a quirk of mine."

Todoroki steps away from the door and looks at me confused, "I don't understand."

"I can also measure things with my eyes. It's how I was able to beat Sato during that team exercise we were on. That is also my quirk, because I have 3 quirks."

Todoroki shakes his head and for the first time his mouth is slightly agape. "How?"

I shrug. "I don't know. It's very rare for people to have more than one quirk, almost unheard of, and yet I'm one of them."

Todoroki sits down in the chair that he was in when I woke up. He was trying to understand what I told him until he mentioned how he heard his father talking about people with more than 1 quirk. He told me that his father said no more than 1% of people with quirks have more than 1.

"Does UA know about it?" he asked me with a serious, yet concerned, look on his face.

That was the question that was going to threaten everything I had gained these last couple weeks.


	5. Chapter 5

I was sitting by myself in the class. The bell had rung and all of my classmates got up and left. Mr. Aizawa demanded me to stay until he got back.

When he came back Nezu, the academy's Principal, was right behind him.

This was not good.

I knew this was going to happen after my conversation with Todoroki yesterday when I told him that I hadn't told the school about all of my quirks in my application. I only listed my unbroken bones quirk. He told me that the school wouldn't be happy, and I knew he was right. I told him how I didn't want to be known as someone with multiple quirks. It's rarer than someone being quirkless, and those people are made fun of all of the time. What if I'm viewed as a freak? I don't want that.

When I was 6 I realized I had the ability to measure things with my eyes. I could measure the distance between two points with ease. I could measure the size of a person's waist or arms. I can even spot a heart rate if it's high enough. At that moment my dream of being a hero began.

When I was 7 I was hit by a car. The doctor was surprised to learn that I didn't suffer any broken bones when I should've. Soon after I was asked to punch a piece of cement as hard as I could. It was meant to break my hand, but it didn't. The doctor concluded that it was my quirk.

Then I was 9 or 10. That night came and I found myself with a 3rd quirk. The ability to turn my stamina or energy into an external kinetic attack. It drains me every time I use it but I haven't been able to use it much to push my limits, so I do not know what happens if I overextend myself. Maybe the USJ incident gave me insight, when I collapsed, of what could happen.

As I found my way to where I live now, I struggled to find myself. I was given a second chance by a stranger. My dream to be a hero was as resolute as ever. It was the flame that kept me going and now it was at risk.

"Hello, Kai. My name is Nezu. How are you doing?"

I looked at Mr. Aizawa, why, I don't know. My mind doesn't really know what it's doing. I think I was hoping he'd give me some assurances, but I knew better.

"I-I'm fine," I stuttered.

"Hmm, yes. I heard about your heroic actions yesterday from some of your peers and Mr. Aizawa."

Some of my peers? I tried to think who it was. Midoriya? Todoroki? No. They would've given me the heads up. Right?

Principal Nezu placed a folder in front of me on the desk. "This is your application to UA. Under quirks you listed 'Unbreakable Bones,' correct?"

I nodded.

"You lied. Yesterday during the incident at the USJ you displayed a kinetic attack from your hands, did you not?"

I looked again at Mr. Aizawa. He again gave me no hints about what was about to happen. No inclination that I was okay. I looked back at Nezu and answered, "Yes sir."

"Lying in your application is punishable by expulsion."

I stood up, fighting through the tears trying to flow, and pled. "I had to use my other quirk. I had to save my friends, the people I care about. I wasn't ready to lose what I had just gained."

Nezu held his hand up, "I know, Kai. I spoke to both Izuku Midoriya and Shoto Todoroki."

Wait, it was them. They didn't tell me.

"Please don't expel me, this is all I have. I couldn't protect my mom when she was murdered by a villain. I don't want to let that happen again, for me or anyone. I've had nothing for so long until I got this opportunity."

We stood in silence as I looked down at the ground and cried. My heart filled with rage and sadness. Everything that I have fought for and gained was hanging on a thread.

Mr. Aizawa cleared his throat. "I understand you must regret what you did yesterday and lying to the school. You are a good student, but the rules are the rules."

I shook my head. "No. I don't regret what I did yesterday. I'd do it again if it meant saving my friends. Put me in that situation 100 times and every single time I would do the same exact thing."

Mr. Aizawa and Nezu looked at each other.

"Good," Nezu said as he handed me a pen and a small sticky piece of paper. "That is why I'm making an exception to the rule. Your two friends defended you, Shoto Todoroki even threatened to drop out if we were to expel you. Mr. Aizawa, here, also stuck his neck out for you. To be honest, you saved the lives of more than your two friends. Who knows what that Nomu could've done in those 90 seconds you fought him before All Might arrived."

I couldn't believe my ears. They weren't going to expel me.

"What you did defines what makes a hero, a hero. With that said, you must correct a past mistake. List your other quirk on that note and place it where it belongs. Nobody has to know you lied."

Mr. Aizawa briefly nodded in approval. I felt a warmth fill my body where fear and rage had filled in. My second chance has been given it's own second chance. After I did what Nezu told me to do I handed it to Mr. Aizawa. He read it and then looked at me sternly.

"I hid one quirk already. No need to hide the other," I said talking about my eye quirk, which I've also written down.

I was completely relieved when I exited the classroom. I went to my locker and took a big breath. As I made my way to the exit door of UA, I saw Todoroki standing up against right wall.

"Will I be seeing you here tomorrow or not?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said with a smile.

"Good," he softly said before turning around.

I was brimming with positivity, "Thanks for waiting, Todoroki."

He didn't turn around, but he pointed towards the door. "I'm not only one who did." I looked outside I saw them.

Midoriya, Uraraka and Iida.

Todoroki walked out and went to the left to avoid the others. I couldn't help but bring my stupid smiling face to my friends. The 3 looked at me concerned, but once they saw my smile they smiled too.

In less than a week class 1-A and 1-B will compete during in the Sports Festival that UA runs. The Sports Festival is one of, if not, the biggest sports competition in Japan. It's a chance for rookie students to show off their powers whilst on TV. It's also a chance to impress scouts for some hero agencies for which the students can get internships at.

However, this year is slightly different. There has been talk of canceling or postponing the competition, but the school has decided to go through with it. Mr. Aizawa told us that this is a chance for the school to show strength in response to the attack at the USJ. Personally, I think it's a mistake. We're going to show off our powers even further to our enemies?

If I'm this league of villains group, I'm furious about students getting involved and even beating us up. This'll back fire one way or another, whether it's sooner or later.

Regardless of that, I guess this'll also be a chance to expand on our powers and get stronger. For me I look forward to go up against Bakugo and Todoroki who are clearly the most advanced students in my class.

I looked at my hand and replayed the moment I created my Big Bang Blast attack. It was the second time I had done it. The first time was last year when there was a story about some small time villain that killed this mom in front of her child. It made me so angry and I felt so much tension in my arms and hands that it just created something. I was so scared because I could feel the energy and I didn't know what to do with it. When I was able to control it, I was exhausted.

With that said, the USJ incident taught me something about my 3rd quirk. It varies depending on the environment and my emotions. When I first realized I had this quirk the blast was yellow. I was angered at what happened on that night when my mother...when she died. Yesterday at the USJ, I was so focused on protecting my friends that when I created the blast it was a light blue. Lastly, when I just create a blast with no real reason it is white.

It wasn't the only unique thing about this quirk. Each color of my blast determines the strength of it, or at least that's my understanding. If I were just to randomly create a blast it wouldn't be anything dangerous because I don't put much energy into it. However, yesterday at the USJ I had focused a lot of energy into my hands because my emotions were running high. There was so much adrenaline coursing through my veins that it almost felt like I had an infinite amount of energy in me.

And then I passed out and ended up in the hospital. Oops.

Interrupting my train of thought was my phone going off. It was a text from Midoriya? 

**Midoriya**: _"Hey Kai. You remember how you offered to train with me?"_

**Me**: _Ya, what about it?_

**Midoriya**: _Is the offer still on the table because I want to try and get a grip of it?_

**Me**: _Of course, when do you want to start?_

**Midoriya**:_ Is tomorrow, okay?_

I decided to call him because I hate texting.

"When do you want to train tomorrow?"

He muttered to himself going through what he has to do tomorrow so I sighed. "Midoriya, focus!"

"Oof, sorry. Uh how about right after school?"

I shook my head with my phone in my hand. "You muttered for all that time only to suggest the only sensible time?" He chuckled lightly. "After school is fine. If you get hurt, we can bring you to recovery girl."

"Yeah I guess, but hopefully we don't have to do that," he says softly.

After getting off the phone with him I started to think how I could get something out of the training. Besides getting a deeper understanding of his quirk, it won't do too much else for me. I instantly felt really guilty trying to think about how this would benefit me. I only offered help because he needed it and I wanted to help him.

I sighed deeply and got up from my couch and went to my room. My room is boring just like the rest of my house. I have a full sized bed and one dresser. The dresser contains some pictures of people from my past including my mom. I pick up one of the photos and just look at it. It brings back awful memories of my past.

Before I could put it down I hear my cat meowing in the kitchen. She's sitting by the small bowl I have out for her. It's empty and she's letting me know not to go to sleep without feeding her. I place the photo down on the counter and grab cat food.

After pouring the food, I pet Sora and head off to bed thinking about tomorrow. I couldn't help but think I'll fail in helping Midoriya.

I can't allow myself to let my friends down.


	6. Chapter 6

**Kai**

With the Sports Competition just around the corner, Mr. Aizawa wanted to give us a heads up about what to expect after it happens. We all know what to expect during the competition because we've seen them before.

"Soon after the competition ends hero agencies will start recruiting you for an internship. Some of you will receive a lot and some of you may not receive anything. It all depends on you and how much you want it."

Sitting in the back corner was Eijiro Kirishima who laughed and said, "Well who wouldn't want it? We're all here because we want it."

Mr. Aizawa was unflinching in his demeanor. "When you start realizing you're outclassed by your peers, that's when you determine if you want it."

He didn't explain himself, not that he had to, but it left some people confused. One of them was Uraraka, who at lunch asked us what he meant by that. Iida shrugged it off as one of Aizawa's attempt to get a rise out of us so we do our best. However, Midoriya quickly disagreed.

"It's not that simple. This competition is an attempt for us to show what we are made of. Even before the competition we know of a couple people who really standout. It will only become amplified at the festival."

Uraraka and Iida tried to play it down.

"He's right," I interjected. "Some of us aren't as good as the others. For instance, Asui couldn't hold a flame to Shoto and she knows that. She couldn't beat him 1-on-1 so how would she handle that and stand out positively if she loses? This is a competition for our future. If someone looks awful in competition and gets no internship offers, what does that mean?"

"Your dream is dead," Shoto adds as he stands near our table.

We all look at his serious face and say nothing for moment.

"Basically," I finish off as I take a bite of my sandwich.

The mood kind of dampens on the table as reality begins to set in. The same mood begins to spread to everyone else. The rest of lunch and school were quieter than usual. After classes ended I went to speak with Mr. Aizawa.

"Mr. Aizawa can I ask you something?"

He glared at me, "I'd prefer you not, but I know you will anyways so out with it."

"I was wondering if Midoriya and I can train on school grounds. I'm trying to-" he interrupted me.

"No."

I nearly choked on my own breath. "Wait, please. We're not going to fight. He's just going to punch me until he can use his quirk without breaking his body."

Aizawa stared at me with a plain face. It's hard to read him but he seemed annoyed. "Sounds like fighting to me."

I shake my head. "I'm just going to eat his punches. And if he can use just a small amount of his quirk, this is the only place he's allowed to use it."

He took a deep breath. "Destroy any school property and you both will be expelled."

As he walked away I thanked him. With the go ahead I met up with Midoriya near the entrance to the school. He was by himself reading that little handbook he carries with him. I wondered if he wrote something down about me. He and Shoto are the only two people who got to see the extent of my quirks in it's entirety. I bet he has a strategy to defeat me in it too.

At first we weren't sure where we were going to train. The first option was the courtyard but sometimes teachers and students hang out there in the after hours. We didn't want to make a scene even though I got permission from Mr. Aizawa. There's no telling if he forewarned other teachers. We also don't want to gain the attention of our peers.

Eventually we agreed to go to the P.E Grounds where Aizawa had us do his fitness tests. When we arrived it was empty. We placed our bags up against the building's walls and took our spots on the dirt field.

"So how are we going to do this," he asked me.

"You're going to punch me with everything you got minus your quirk. Just raw strength. Get a feel for that."

I sounded crazy and he looked at me as if I were. I reassured him about my quirk. I'll feel the punch, so it won't be fun, but I can handle it.

It took him a moment to get himself ready to actually punch me and when he did he quickly apologized. It took me a moment to understand his strength because it was stronger than I expected. When he came towards me I recognized a minor expansion in his forearm and bicep, which is normal due to adrenaline.

I smiled. "Don't apologize. Keep going, Midoriya."

He nodded and came back at me with another punch. This time he didn't apologized. I removed my arms from the bracing position I was in giving him the go ahead to punch again. After a few isolated punches he eventually turned to combos where he punched me multiple times. One of the punches got under my arm and into my stomach causing me to lose my breath and get to one knee.

He quickly approached me and put his hand on my shoulder and asked if I was okay. "Oh my god, Kai. Are you okay?"

I took a moment to get my breath back and stood up. Without saying anything I punched Midoriya in his stomach causing him to go down to one knee. I chuckled, "I want you to use your quirk now."

I walk away from him to give him time to recover from my punch, which was not as strong as his punch. I just wanted to hurt him a bit.

When I turned around, his back was still turned towards me as he got up. I can tell his body was starting to expand. He was reaching into his quirk's power so I had to begin my brace. Within mere seconds he turned around, jumped off his spot and punched me with his right fist.

I skidded on the dirt field for several meters and eventually tumbled to the ground below. The energy from his punched traveled from his knuckles to my forearm and rattled my entire body. If it wasn't for my quirk I swear my arm would've been broken.

When I got up from the ground I looked across the way to Midoriya who was holding his broken right arm with his head down. Idiot. He went too hard. Something was wrong with him. My eyes were picking up on an inconsistent and heavy movement from his shoulders. When I got closer to him I heard him whimper.

"Midoriya?"

Holding his broken arm he looks up at me with a reddened face and tears coming down his cheeks.

Ever since I saw him use his quirk I've been judging his inability to use it as a fault with him. I didn't think to take a moment to think about how he was feeling. That's when it struck me how desperate he was to even accept my invitation to help him. He just met me. This has to be so devastating for him.

"Come on, let's go get you to recovery girl."

"I-I'm sorry," he said quietly with his head still down. I placed my hand on his back as a way to guide him and comfort him. I grabbed both of our bags and put them on my left shoulder before turning and heading towards the main building where Recovery Girl is.

I tried to comfort him further, "Use your fist and wrist next time, not your whole arm." I took a deep breath which dimmed my adrenaline allowing some of the pain I was dealing with seep out. My arm body was aching, nearly trembling, but I had to act like I wasn't hurt. "This was more of a success than you think."

As we walked, I saw Mr. Aizawa standing maybe 20 meters from us. He caught my glance for a few seconds and then walked away. Was he there for the whole time? I wonder what he was thinking.

Recovery Girl wasn't too pleased that Midoriya hurt himself. She said it wasn't too bad and that he'd be perfect to go for the Sports Festival. She wanted to check on me but I assured her that I was fine.

That is when All Might showed up. It was strange to see him take an invested interest in Midoriya. I wonder if Aizawa told him, but it made no sense. Why would he care? If I'm going to be honest I've noticed All Might take an interest in Midoriya more than anyone else. Midoriya only seemed to confirm that when he didn't freak out about seeing him. This is his idol. When he found out All Might was one of our teachers he freaked out, but now it's as if they know each other.

What's the connection?

All Might told me that I could leave and that he'd bring Midoriya home. I was okay with that because the pain I was feeling was beginning to burst through my cover. He couldn't have hit me as hard as that Nomu did at the USJ and when I woke up I wasn't in pain where it had hit me. I surmise I'll be fine in an hour or so. Thing is, I was taken by surprise by Midoriya's punch. He moved so quickly. His quirk just didn't give him super strength but it made him faster.

Once I got out of the room and turned the corner into a new hallway I gasped and rubbed my forearm. It was slightly tender to the touch and already bruising.

"He hurt you that bad, huh?" a voice said nearby. I look over and saw Shoto standing up against the wall looking at me.

"Shoto? What are you doing here?" I was surprised to see him as my shaky an higher pitched tone indicated. His face slightly contorted for a second.

"I was going home when I saw you two head off to the P.E. Grounds, so I decided to follow." And I didn't notice him? I didn't notice Aizawa either, but he's a pro. I gotta work on my awareness. "He broke his body again, didn't he?"

I nodded.

"He's a fool. He isn't ready for this class with such a volatile quirk."

I shook my head. "Why are you like that?"

His head tilted in anger, "Like what?"

"You're so miserable. What's the point, Shoto?"

He snapped. "Don't call me that." I looked at him intently unsure why he snapped. He shook his head before saying, "Whatever. If you to want to waste your time with him, then go right ahead."

As he turned around I could feel my blood begin to boil. "I'm helping him. You can trash Midoriya all you want but at least he has people who care about him." It was time to poke the bear. "Who do you have? Your father?" Knowing Shoto Todoroki, you know who his father is; Endeavor. Endeavor is not known for being a nice person and the rumors about how he has treated his other children are out there.

He stopped walking. "You don't know anything about my father or about me."

"So tell me!" I urge him. He turns around and walks towards me and punches me in the face.

"I'm not telling you anything. You are nobody." I grab his right arm and hold onto it. He yells at me to let go of him but I don't. Then he uses his ice quirk to freeze my hand. Even when it begins to hurt I keep my hand on him, because I can see how conflicted he is about this. I've seen it since he was there in my hospital room after the USJ incident.

Struggling through gritted teeth I mutter, "Just because you hate him, doesn't mean you have to hate everyone else."

My hand grew colder. "Stop talking," he said calmly. It was the type of calm that would send shivers down your spine.

"My dad sucked too. He left me when I was born. He wanted nothing to do with me." I quickly blurted.

Shoto froze. Not literally, but figuratively speaking, he froze. His eyes widened slightly, and breathing nearly stopped for a moment. The next moment I felt his fist make contact with my stomach. I lost my grip on his hand and fell to both of my knees in pain.

As he walked away I gasped for air but was able to muster out a few words along with where I lived. "Being alone is a villain."


	7. Chapter 7

***Shoto Todoroki POV***

Kai.

What was he trying to accomplish back there? W-what was I trying to accomplish? I don't even know why I stayed to watch those two idiots train. I don't know why I waited for Kai to get out of Recovery Girl's room, but I did. It just felt like something I had to do.

It reminded me of how I let him take charge in All Might's first exercise. I saw something in his eyes that convinced me to let him take on Sato. With that said I had my own selfish reasons for letting him get first knock. I had heard nothing of him. Nobody knew who he was when we entered the class and he was in the middle of the pack after the entrance exams.

Coming into the exercise everyone knew his quirk was Unbreakable Bones. His bones cannot be broken, but how does he get this far with that quirk? It's a worthless quirk on it's face. During Mr. Aizawa's stupid tests, he didn't blow anyone away either. However, he showed some strength. That's what I wanted to see, and his fighting style.

Watching him dodge Sato with such precision shocked me beyond belief. But then I got to see him utilize his true quirk at the USJ. The ability to turn his stamina and energy into blasts makes him rival Bakugo and myself. Shit, he may just surpass us.

I shake my head.

"Being alone is a villain," I heard him say over and over again in my mind. The words shot through my mind and body like bullets from a gun and I didn't know why.

A part of me wanted to turn around and help him up but the other side wanted to leave and hate him. I got a mix of both. I left him but I couldn't hate him. I was just angry, angry at him and myself. I didn't want to hurt Kai but I had to.

I shake my head again.

Walking home felt longer than it usually does. There was a lot on my mind, but other than that I didn't know why. Every minute felt like two and every step felt like a dozen. When I got home I looked at the front door and sighed.

Fuyumi was home cleaning and preparing dinner. When she saw me she scowled.

"Do you not answer your phone?"

"No, why?" I respond.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and said, "I texted and called you asking where you were."

I took my phone out and saw the several texts. "Where are you?" "Shoto, you there?" "Don't make me call father and tell him you are lost."

How annoying. "Yeah, so."

"Ugh. Just answer our damn phone alright."

"Yeah, whatever" I respond as I walk away and go to my room.

I placed my bag on my desk and sat down on my bed. Frustrated with myself I can feel the fire side of me begin to rage. It takes me a moment but I'm able to quell it. I don't leave my room until Kuyumi comes and tells me that dinner is ready.

I sit together Fuyumi with the dinner she prepared. We largely sit in silence but every once and a while Fuyumi attempts to strike a conversation. She's the polar opposite to my dad and I. She's kind, but she nags me too much.

As we eat my dad walks in. He immediately spots that I'm flustered and makes a quip about it. I ignore him and keep eating my food.

"So when do you want to start your training, Shoto?" he asks me.

I close my eyes for a couple of seconds to bite my tongue and ignore him. If there's anything in this world my father hates it's not being noticed. Being noticed is all he cares about. He doesn't care about anything else, not even his children.

"Shoto?! I asked you a question."

I really hate that name.

I look at him, at his stupid eyes. "I'm never going to train with you, Endeavor." When I get up from the floor, not having finished my dinner, he grabs my arm.

"Then you'll be like your brothers, failures. You'll never surpass All Might." We glare at each other for a couple moments before I rip my arm free from his grip.

An anger grew in my chest as I recall Kai's comments about my father and how he thinks he knows what I deal with. I may not have lived with a father, but it's better than having to live with mine.

"Then I guess we have something in common then," I quietly say before leaving the house. There was no point to be there today. Not with my mind being all over the place. I don't have the patience to deal with his shit.

With the sun setting I have found myself by the harbor. There are a few people walking around or sitting by the benches taking in the quiet scenery.

That's when I notice a figure standing next to me. Mr. Aizawa.

"Long day?" he asks.

I say nothing.

"You should be home. It's getting late, Todoroki."

I said nothing again. I could feel his eyes on me as if he is analyzing me, but then he turns and begins to walk away.

"Kai."

His footsteps stopped. "What about him?"

I sighed and turned around. "What's so special about him?"

Mr. Aizawa turned around and didn't answer my question like I wanted him to. "What do you mean by special?"

Annoying. "Whatever. I don't care. He's just in my way." I walk past Mr. Aizawa and he says nothing until I'm a few feet past him.

"He's no more in the way than you are to yourself."

I growled. "Excuse me? I didn't ask you to tell me about myself. I asked you about Kai. Just him."

We shared a glance. "I did tell you about him."

If he thinks I'm getting in my way then he's an idiot. I'm the only one who isn't in my way. Everyone else is.

I shook my head and stormed off. He didn't follow me nor did he say anything else. Not that I expected him to. Further frustrated I struggled to focus my mind on one thing, so I just shut down. There was no point to think. I know what I have to do and that is win the Sports Festival and do so with my icy half.

* * *

_**A/N: Admittedly this is a short chapter. I wanted to split up the narrative change into two chapters rather than in the same chapter. I will make up for this short chapter with Chapter 8 on Saturday. Remember to leave reviews because it helps.**_


	8. Chapter 8

***Kai***

The Sports Festival is today. Everyone is currently in their respective waiting rooms. As I stand around with Midoriya and his friends I can't help but notice Todoroki standing on the far side of the room with his eyes closed. Out of nowhere his eyes open and they are glaring right at me. I look away, not quickly as if to pretend I wasn't looking at him, but so that he knew I didn't forget what happened a few days ago.

We haven't spoken since, and I haven't attempted to initiate anything. He made it clear he wanted space from me and so that's what I'm giving him. There's no point in beating a dead horse in this instance. If he wants to talk then he knows how to find me.

An attendant walks into the room and tells us that it is time for us to go. As we walk through the tunnel the screams and stomping from the crowd grows louder and louder with each passing minute. The ground below us shakes more as well. A lot of us are pretty excited but nervous about the Festival. This is our time to shine and we've already received a lot of attention from the USJ attack.

"Nervous," Midoriya asks me.

"Nah. You?"

He seemed unsure, "Kinda, I think."

He looked at me with his greenish eyes and smiled nervously. "You'll be fine, Midoriya. Just relax and be you."

Since the day we trained he's been a bit down on himself. He doesn't know if he'll ever gain control of his power but he's determined to keep trying. He's determined to prove himself, but to who? Himself? Not sure. Seems like he's trying to prove himself to someone else entirely.

The sun beams into the stadium as the crowd cheers even louder when we and the other freshman classes enter. Present Mic is on loudspeaker and helps ramp up the crowd. As we approach a stage, Midnight is there with a microphone in her hand. The crowd begins to die down and she begins to speak.

Pointing to a big screen she talks about how we'll have to face a multi-stage preliminary round. It's going to be a 4 km obstacle course race to the finish. The higher you finish the more points you score going into the next round.

A countdown on the big screen begins and already I can tell the other freshman class, especially 1-B has it out for us. One kid, Neito Monoma, tries to get a reaction out of us. Only Bakugo reacts telling him to shut up, but he was getting on my nerve too.

When the timer got down to zero a loud siren blasted and the race had begun. We are forced to run through a small corridor so it was getting packed. I was in the front of the pack but then Todoroki used his ice ability on the entire field getting many of us stuck, including me. As other people passed by me I saw him shoot a look at me.

My right foot was fully stuck in ice, and I couldn't budge it out at all. Meanwhile, I watched as a dozen of my peers started passing me. I was watching my dream run away all because of that selfish prick.

A rage built up in me.

Midoriya crossed by me and asked if I need help, but I told him to go on. I looked down at my foot and pondered how I would get out. I could blast it but with my rage it could be more of a detriment than a benefit to me.

So I punched it. I just kept punching it and bit by bit it started breaking until my foot was finally free. After getting it free all I could see was the blood from my hand dripping down. My hand was throbbing but obviously it wasn't broken. I had to keep going.

As I ran I could hear explosions in the distance. It was likely the front of the pack reaching the next obstacle. When I arrived there massive walls of ice along with giant robots. The robots were an obstacle by the organizers of the event, but the ice was Todoroki's obstacle for the rest of us.

"What do we do?" Hakagure asks.

I look at my hands and place them together. "Stand back."

I focus my mind and bring energy to my hands to create a blast. I thrust them forward and yelled "Big Bang Blast." It creates a massive explosion destroying most of the ice and one of the robots in the way.

"Go now," I yell at Hakagure as I begin to run.

As I run I come across that Monoma kid who is jogging at a gingerly pace. I blast the ground in front of him sending him well off his feet and into a wall.

The third obstacle is when I realized I was catching up. There was this canyon and we had to get to the other side. There were tightropes going across the canyon that we could take to other side along with using our quirks. The support class were using their support items, which I guess was a way for them to get caught up.

After I got to one platform I realized I didn't have time to take the tightropes. I turned around and fired a blast at the ground. It sent me flying at an angle that I determined would get me to where I had to be. It required several more blasts and when I was done I landed harshly on the ground across the canyon. I wasn't sure how many people I was behind but I knew I was in the front half of the pack at the very least.

The final stage was a minefield. Before I arrived I saw a massive explosion. I didn't see Midoriya, Todoroki or Bakugo so I assumed they finished.

I didn't waste time. I blasted my way quickly to the finish right behind Sato. I made it back to the stadium where I saw 9 other people already there, so that means I came in 10th place. Midoriya came up to me with Uraraka and Yaoyorozu.

"Kai, are you okay? Your hand is bleeding."

I spot Todoroki looking on.

"It's fine," I say glaring at him. "Some ice was getting in the way."

I looked away and tried to relax myself. The anger and rage inside me wasn't good, so I needed to qualm that as soon as possible. I got through this prelim in a fine position. Yaoyorozu used her quirk to create a bandage, which Midoriya than wrapped around my left fist. My right fist was fine, just a little banged up.

"Man, you really can't break your bones, huh?" Uraraka asked.

"Nope. Punching that ice would've broken anybody else's hands, but not mine. I can keep punching as long as I can tolerate pain."

"That's kind of wild," she adds nicely.

After a while, everyone else had crossed the finished line and reentered the stadium. Midnight took to the stage and again pointed to the big screen where the standings would be announced. It listed the top 42 contestants with Midoriya in 1st and some 1-B student in last. Todoroki and Bakugo came in 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Midnight then announced the next event, Cavalry Battle. Based on the icon on the big screen and basic common sense it was clear this was going to be a team effort.

She described the next competition as so. We'll have a 15 minute intermission shortly to gather a team of 2 to 4 people. We will be assigned a headband with our score on it. At the end of the allotted time, the top 4 teams will move on.

Before our intermission was to begin Midnight tells us to look at the big screen to see how many points we're all worth. Midoriya is worth the most at 10 million points. Immediately, it becomes clear he is the target. Whomever gets the 10 million points moves on. At 10th place I'm worth 165 points. Todoroki, who came in second is only worth 205 points.

When the intermission begins it's clear Midoriya is on the outs. His best friends, Uraraka and Iida don't want to be on his team. They want to stand out, which is respectable. However, I don't need to stand out.

"Midoriya, you want to work together?" I ask.

Still disappointed by his friends declining to work with him he lightly smiles.

"Are you sure you want to be on my team?" he asks.

"Of course," I say with a thumbs up.

He nodded and seemed rejuvenated. However, we struggled to find teammates for the next few minutes and several teams had already formed. That's when Monamo bumped into me.

"You jerk. You attacked me during the race."

I shrugged, "Yeah. You talked shit before the race. I was trying to make you lose," which I failed since he had a headband worth 5 points in his hand.

"Yeah, well you failed so I'm coming for you and your team."

I smirked, "Then I'll just have to knock you off your feet again."

He scoffed and walked away when Uraraka approached Midoriya. She didn't have a team and she was sad. She told Midoriya that she was going to team up Asui and Shoji but felt bad for leaving him alone. She wanted in.

We needed one more when Midoriya saw Tokoyami. They spoke about they could use him for offense and defense. Tokoyami let us in on a secret about his quirk, Dark Shadow. It's strong at night, but weak during the day. Apparently he's only told one other person in our class this information.

And with that we had our team.

With one minute we had to devise a plan. While they were talking about playing defense I interrupted them.

"Okay I need you guys to hear me out. Everyone is going to gun for us, that's a non starter. What if we let someone grab Midoriya's headband?"

"Are you crazy?" Midoriya says abruptly.

"Kinda yeah, but not with this," I say with an ill-timed chuckle. They glared at me, so I cleared my voice. "Okay, not the time. Anyways, we take notice of the teams that come after us. We find one of the teams, not Todoroki's or Bakugo's, and come at them. We let them take Midoriya's headband, but we attempt to take theirs. The target will shift off of us and onto them. Bakugo and Todoroki will fight for it till the end."

The 3 of them looked at me as if I had 3 heads.

"Hmm, that might work," Midoriya said as he begins to mutter.

Tokoyami agreed, "Yeah, if done well it's a brilliant plan. We only need to finish in the top 4. We don't need 10 Million points to do that."

I drop my hand on Midoriya's shoulder to stop him from muttering, "Exactly, and between us 3," I say to him talking about Tokoyami, Uraraka and myself, "We have about 500 points. This is a good start and I suppose we'll need another 500 points to move on."

Midoriya nodded is head in agreement, "Okay I'm down for that."

We agreed Midoriya would be held up by Uraraka, Tokoyami and myself. Since my left hand is a bit battered and bloodied I don't want to use my energy blast quirk, even if I have the most control with it. My right hand will have to do, if I need to use it.

Once the battle began several teams came for us. Midoriya spots the team he wants to target, the second place team lead by Tetsutetsu. They are the 2nd place team with 700 points. Todoroki quickly uses his ice quirk to stop us in our tracks but I use a blast to stop it as we head towards Tetsutetsu. Some of the teams seem confused by our strategy.

"What the hell are you doing, Deku?!" Bakugo yells.

Midoriya loses his headband but he was able to grab Tetsutetsu's headband worth 175 points. Meanwhile, I was able to grab Yosetsu Awase's 145 point headband. Uraraka and Tokoyami were playing defense to make sure we didn't lose any others.

For this part of the battle we figured we could just grab a few more headbands from some of the weaker teams, so that's what we did.

With a minute remaining we had 7 headbands worth 1145 points. The 10 million point headband was squarely around Todoroki's neck. Bakugo's team had around 1400 points putting them in 2nd. The 4th place team has 930 points. A couple teams had nothing, but it was still a mad dash for more.

Monamo's team came after us in the final minute. He wanted revenge, but little did he know I had no intention of letting him get it. Like I said I would before the battle began, I blew up the ground in front of his team and it sent them to the ground after his teammates lost their balance.

I picked up the only headband they had which was worth 5 points. A loud siren went off ending the cavalry battle and this portion of the Festival.

"We did well," Midoriya said about our performance.

In a few minutes time Midnight told us to look at the big screen to see the standings and who would go onto the final round of the Festival.

The 4 teams that'll move on to the final round are as follows:

Team Todoroki: Shoto Todoroki, Tenya Iida, Momo Yaoyorozu, and Denki Kaminari.

Team Bakugo: Katsuki Bakugo, Eijiro Kimishima, Mina Ashido, and Hanta Sero.

Team Midoriya: Izuku Midoriya, Kai Aribe, Ochaco Uraraka, and Fumikage Tokoyami.

Team Tetsutetsu: Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, Juzo Honenuki, Yosetsu Awase, and Ibara Shiozaki.


	9. Chapter 9

***Kai***

As we took our break after the Cavalry Battle I realize Todoroki and Midoriya are not present. I think about heading out to find them, but I realize that it's not my business whatever they are talking about. Bakugo also isn't here, but I'm sure he just doesn't want to be around us.

Eventually the 3 of them get back but minutes later we are called to the stadium again. It's time for the final round of the Festival. Typically, the final round is a 1-on-1 competition to in order to determine the winner. The rules are to be determined by the teachers.

Midnight tells us we'll have to draw numbers, which will determine when and who we are fighting. After everyone has picked their numbers, I realize what I rough path to the end I have.

Midoriya, Todoroki and myself are in the first half of the draw. Midoriya is going to face of against Juzo Honenuki with a chance to fight Todoroki in his 2nd matchup. If I make it, I could face him or Todoroki in the semis. However, I first have to get through Tetsutetsu from Class 1-B.

Looking over at the other half, I'd be shocked if Bakugo doesn't make it to the finals. Nobody is a real threat to him over there. Although, it is possible Iida could deliver a shocker if he's creative enough.

I decide to watch all of the matchups in the first round without going to the waiting room.

As expected Todoroki and Midoriya ease past their opponents setting up their clash. When Midoriya came up to the stands he was surprised to see me still seated.

"You're nervous, aren't you?" he asks me.

"Yeah," I answer. I'm too nervous to just sit in some room while my peers fight. This is the first real time people are going to see us use our quirks. Millions of people. It's kind of overwhelming if you think about it.

He smiles, "You're going to be fine. I believe in you."

The words and sincerity hit me hard. You know how someone can just say something you can't help but replay the words over and over again just out of amazement? That's how that felt because that was the first time in a long time anyone had ever said they believed in me.

When it was my time to compete I made my way to the stage that had been built by Cementoss. I heard myself be introduced to the stage as the first student in UA history to contain more than 1 quirk. I heard the murmurs in the crowd and it kinda struck at my insecurity.

Were they bad murmurs? Do they think I'm a freak?

Before I can think any further I feel a hard punch to my face. I quickly regroup and fire a blast behind me and to the ground to stop my momentum keeping me from stepping outside of the ring.

"You should pay attention, or is that not a part of your multiple quirks?" Tetsutetsu quipped.

I walked closer to the center of the ring but he charged. I sidestepped and quickly made my way to the middle of the ring. Tetsutetsu chuckled and used his Steel quirk which gives him a lot of power and makes him hard to hit.

My attempts to blast him and keep him at long range failed. Close combat with him would put me at a disadvantage.

"Let's see how unbreakable your bones really are!" he yells as he punches me hard as I brace myself. The punch hurts but the adrenaline in my body begins to take over even as he punches me a couple times. I blast him with a relatively powerful energy blast sending him back a few feet.

Laughing ominously he taunts me, "I'm going to break your bones."

"What part of my quirk don't you get? My bones can't break."

He shakes his head. "That's where you are wrong. Every quirk has a limit. When pushed a quirk can break. That means your bones can and will break."

***Midoriya***

The conversation Tetsutetsu and Kai were having was audible as the crowded quieted down. Tetsutetsu's comments looks to have made Kai shaken a bit.

"Is what he said true?" Uraraka asked.

I nodded, "Unfortunately, I believe he's right. You can't use your zero gravity quirk all of the time. Iida can't use his either. Hell, even Bakugo gets strained using his. Our quirks all have limits."

I looked on nervous for my friend, Kai. He stared directly at Tetsutetsu and said, "Stop talking and break my bones then." There was a distinct sound of confidence in his voice that would successfully hide any idea of fear on his part.

This got some of the crowd cheering on his defiance and challenge to Tetsutetsu. I didn't know how I felt, but I hope he knew what he was doing.

Tetsutetsu charged Kai and landed a fury of attacks on Kai, some even got past his defensive bracing. I'd say he landed 7 punches to Kai's body and another 2 dozen to his arms that were protecting his chest and face. As he went to throw another punch, Kai dodged it with side stepped. However, Tetsutetsu quickly adjusted and threw another punch. Kai matched the punch and both of them connected with their fists.

It was even. Or at least that's how it seems. Kai's quirk keeps his bones from breaking but he still feels the pain from the punches. He's got to be in so much pain right now. If he is, he isn't showing it. However, he is showing fatigue from taking those punches.

They both pulled away from each other.

I took a deep breath in relief. "That was intense and amazing at the same time," Iida remarked.

Kirishima, who's quirk is similar to Tetsutetsu also seemed impressed. "Damn, he was able to deal with that barrage? He's a freak."

"A cool one," Uraraka added with an awe-invoked smile.

I looked at Todoroki who was intently watching the fight. He seemed locked in. Earlier today he told me about his parents and how he hates his father and the quirk he inherited from him. It saddened me that he would sabotage himself by avoiding such a powerful quirk.

He doesn't understand how he is letting his hatred for his father stop him from becoming the type of hero he wants to be. He's blinded by his own rage.

I'll have to change that when we fight.

The current fight at hand has started up again with, Tetsutetsu beginning another barrage of punches on Kai and is slowly pushing him closer to the edge of the ring. As the punches continue, Kai again sidestep but this time he quickly blasts off one of his Big Bang Blasts creating a massive explosion in between them. The dirt and gravel from the damaged ring clouds the aftermath of the powerful explosion.

I look over at Cementoss who looks at Midnight, probably wondering if they should stop the fight but once the dust settles they choose not to. Both Tetsutetsu and Kai are standing several feet apart from each other.

Kai is breathing heavily. He's slightly slouched showing clear signs of further fatigue. He told me his blast quirk drains his energy and he just used his strongest attack after absorbing a few dozen hard strikes.

"He's in trouble," I say.

"What? No way," Uraraka says. "He's still standing after taking all of that. He's going to be fine."

I shook my head.

"Midoriya is right. He's finished," Todoroki muttered.

I only side eyed him because I hated to agree with him and count Kai out. It's so hard not to when you see how much he's laboring out there.

Then I watch him put his hands together. "No, Kai. Don't do it," I say as another Big Bang Blast forms in his hands.

"What's wrong, Midoriya?" Iida asks.

"Those attacks sap his energy, his stamina. He doesn't have much left in him as it is!"

Kai lets out a loud scream as he holds the blast. "My quirk isn't the only thing that can break!" he yells at Tetsutetsu as he releases the blast. Tetsutetsu attempts to brace himself for the attack as Kai falls to one knee and looks on.

Tetsutetsu stays standing but his quirk is no longer active.

"Damn it," he yells. He looks over at Kai and laughs and point out what a pathetic state he's in.

Midnight looks over at Kai, who is still on one knee, and asks if he can go on. Kai takes a slow glance at midnight and staggers to both his feet. The crowd is locked in on the fight and is unsure who to cheer for, but they remain entertained.

With an unshaking confidence he says, "I'm still unbroken."

This angers Tetsutetsu who charges at Kai. Kai does what he's done every time and sidesteps. He grabs Tetsutetsu's arm and turns his body. Both of them fall to the ground with their bodies out of the designated area.

Midnight runs over and places her hand up and says "Tetsutetsu is out of bounds. Kai Akibe wins."

The big screen focuses in on the two boys and shows Kai laying on top of Tetsutetsu, so his body is technically not touching out of bounds. On top of that both of his feet are touching inside the designated area.

"Holy shit, he did it," Kimishima exclaims.

Kai gets to both of his feet and bends down and picks Tetsutetsu up from the ground. They share some words and a handshake. The crowd roars in excitement from the match. Kai spots me from up where I'm at and gives me a thumbs up. Eventually Midnight leads them out and I fall to my chair in relief.

Kai finally made his way to our sections where he was congratulated by several of our peers. When he sat down next to me a let out a loud gasp.

"Ugh. I finally get to sit down and relax," he says in visible pain.

"How'd you do it?" I ask him.

"Belief," he said with a smile. "Thank you for that."

I just looked at him and didn't know what to say. He was thanking me for him pulling out the victory? Kai is so much different than anyone I know. Even though I feel like I know him the most, I know I only know half of who he is, if that. But all he's done since we've met is help and motivate me. Not just by his willingness to train with me but with his fight to live a life he wants to live; as a hero.

* * *

**_A/N: Leaving this little note here about my story, or I guess a warning for some. This story is going to feature some same-sex stuff. If you don't like it then stop reading because I'm not going to change from the idea I've already set a course on._**

**_On a side note I'm still messing with how to incorporate other POV's. This time I went with 2 POV's in the same chapter as opposed to last time when I split them up into two separate chapters. Please feel free to leave a review or pm me to let me know if you like it or if it was jarring. Thanks :)_**


	10. Chapter 10

***Kai***

I watched all 4 of the fights in the 2nd half of the draw. Bakugo and Iida seemed clear to head towards a semifinal clash, bearing any surprises of course. While those fights were going on I was taking the time to recover. I unfortunately sustained a lot of hits to my body in my fight with Tetsutetsu.

For a moment I thought maybe one of my bones would break, but they didn't. I persevered and let him focus on 2 of my quirks. My 3rd quirk was the reason I won the fight as I was able to predict where his body was going to be when he charged that last time. My quirk gave me the ability to place my feet correctly, grab him and turn my body exactly how I had to in order to fall on him. It's a simple side-step that I utilized against Sato.

Nevertheless, I was tired and I would be going into the next fight had a severe disadvantage. Not to mention my state in any matches after that.

With all of the first round fights finished, we were given a 15 minute break before the next round of fights were to begin. I decided to walk with Midoriya to the waiting room. He was slightly nervous to fight Todoroki who might just be the most advanced student in our class.

"I'm going to use my quirk," he said confidently.

"What about your body?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "I don't care. I'm here to give it my all. I have to use my quirk even if it destroys my body."

"A lot of people would tell you that you are crazy, you know?"

He nodded, "What would you tell me?"

"Nothing. You've made your decision, Midoriya. I respect that and will cheer you on."

He smiled and thanked me for the kind words.

I stood around and talked to him for a couple minutes until he asked me to give him some time to himself. I understood and left the room. Entering the hallway I was surprised to see Todoroki standing outside glaring at me.

I didn't want to be filled with rage but I was. I cared about him, but first I needed to gain his respect in order for him to see that. That means I need to face him during this Festival. I'm not sure Midoriya will beat him, but I kind of don't want him to.

Todoroki broke his glare and walked away but he didn't do so quietly. "You're gonna need a lot more than what you showed earlier to beat me."

I didn't respond. I just walked away to get myself a drink before getting back to the viewing section.

By the time I got back, Midoriya and Todoroki were already in the middle of the arena ready to fight. The battle starts off exactly as expected, fast. Todoroki starts off with an ice attack which Midoriya counters with a quirk-based attack using just a finger.

He broke his finger showing that he still can't control it. My advice of focusing the power to his fist wouldn't work. He couldn't even do it with a finger. He's not going to win this.

The stalemate continued as Midoriya blew through his fingers one by one in order to counter Todoroki's seemingly unstoppable ice attacks. I begin to notice that Todoroki's body is begin to ice up. Not only that he is slowing down in his attempts to dodge the shock waves from Midoriya's counterattacks.

It seems that Midoriya has noticed it too as he tells Todoroki just that after his own durability was questioned. Midoriya is down a whole arm.

It doesn't stop him.

He uses his already broken fingers to counterattack Todoroki again. Todoroki begins to feel the pressure. He questions why Midoriya is pushing his body so far.

Meanwhile, Endeavor is standing in the crowd watching on. He evokes an ominous presence, one that is unbecoming of a hero. I catch Todoroki's eyes glance over at him and I instantly notice a change in his body as if he is excited.

Rage.

I knew Todoroki has his problems with Endeavor, but maybe I underestimated them. Todoroki charges Midoriya who yells and based on his muscle expansion uses his quirk to punch Todoroki in the abdomen. It sends Todoroki crashing into his own ice.

His hand isn't further damaged. He fucking did it. I throw my fist in the air and yell in excitement even though he's still in rough shape. The teachers, Cementoss and Midnight begin talking to each other, the former seeming more concerned than the latter.

However, Todoroki yells at Cementoss and tells him that Midoriya is fine and is just trying to win the match. This is the ultimate respect two fighters can have for each other.

Once Midnight nods to give competitors the go ahead to continue, Midoriya wastes no time and dashes toward Todoroki. Todoroki tried to freeze him but Midoriya uses his cheek to create a shock wave to counter it. This give him a chance to hit Todoroki with a smash again and he doesn't waste it.

"He's being reckless," Iida says.

"Maybe, but he wants to win."

"At what cost?" he asks.

Everything I say to myself. Sometimes proving to other people you have what it takes isn't the ultimate motivation. Proving it to yourself usually is.

Todoroki challenges Midoriya asking him why he's pushing his body so much. That's when Midoriya launches into a tirade about Todoroki not using his other half.

"You can't be a hero if you don't use your full power! I'm going to win this and you will fail if you don't," he says as he charges in for another smash attack.

Another controlled smash attack.

Todoroki is worse for wear causing the teachers to talk again. Everyone is on the edge of their seat and the teachers could end this at any second. Looking at the scarred boy's face gives me the first glimpse of vulnerability. Midoriya's words of how the fire is his quirk not Endeavor's exposes his vulnerability even further.

I can see that Cementoss is ready to end it and as Midoriya charges up again I hope he does. Then Todoroki's left side begins to come alive. Fire starts shooting out of his arm.

Both of them charge at each other with their strongest attacks, but before they can connect Cementoss uses his quirk and creates multiple cement walls in between the two. It doesn't matter because the impact and shock waves shake the arena and destroy all of the walls. Both boys are sent flying, but Todoroki is able to stop himself with his ice quirk. Unfortunately, Midoriya slammed into the opposite wall and falls to the ground.

Todoroki walks over to Midoriya but Midnight tells him to stay back as she checks on him. She tells us that he's okay and that Todoroki is the winner.

Looking down at the ground I see Midoriya getting taken away on a stretcher. He put everything on the line, but was he trying to win or was he trying to help Todoroki? He pushed himself to the limit, no, beyond the limit to help a friend. How?

Anyways, it's my turn up. I have to face off against Ibara Shiozaki, whose quirk is the ability to create vines with her hair. It's an interesting ability, but my blast quirk should be able to handle it with ease. To be honest I don't want to expend too much energy. I want to get done with this fast, check on Midoriya and get ready for my match with Todoroki.

Ibara's demeanor is calm. She's confident but calm about it. I don't know if that's just a general attitude or if she really thinks she'll win.

I test the water and send a blast her way. She blocks it with her vines as expected. I saw no weakness in it, so I walked towards her. Her muscles tensed so I knew she was activating her quirk. I saw how she used it in the first round so I knew to jump out of the way. When I did I sent a stronger blast toward her. Not only did she attack like I expected, but she defended as I expected to.

I ran. I made a mad dash to her and continued to send blasts her way. She kept defending without being able to see where I am. The dust cloud that was forming continued to grow so I continue to blast away sending the blast to multiple areas. I started to hear her grunt, expressing how agitated she was becoming.

After she created another wall of vines, I jumped to the air and sent a blast towards one of her inner vine walls. This gave her the belief that I was in between them. I wasn't. She released the vine wall closest to her and gave me an opening. I was now just feet away from her.

I did nothing for a few moments and allowed the dust cloud to settle.

"Is it over? Did I win? How come you aren't attacking me anymore?"

Psh. She really thinks she won.

"It is over," I said as I came up behind, grabbing her hair and tossing her out of the ring.

Midnight declared me the victor and that I would be moving onto the semifinals where I'd face Todoroki.

I didn't expend too much energy, but I did use up more than I wanted originally. Thankfully, I didn't use my big attack. As I walked by a corridor I saw Todoroki and Endeavor. They were talking, and it didn't seem pleasant.

"I'm so glad you've seen the error of your ways my son. Now you can let me help become better than All Might."

Endeavor seemed more fixated on Todoroki being better than All Might than anything. His tone was self-righteous when he had no reason being so.

"You're wrong." Todoroki exclaimed bitterly. He went on about how he resented his father and his fire quirk. He seemed unsure about making it his own but, "Eventually it'll be mine and you will be nothing."

Todoroki walked past his father in defiance. His shirt was still shredded from his match with Midoriya. I could see his chiseled abs and mature physique.

He glared at me as he walked by, slightly startled. We didn't say a single word to each other.

Meanwhile, I went off to see Midoriya who was with Recovery Girl. All Might was there. I don't know what was happening but recovery girl was mad, not just at Midoriya but also All Might.I know All Might is one of his teachers but Mr. Aizawa is the main teacher. Why isn't she yelling at him?

"Oh ho, you startled me!" All Might declares as I stand in the doorway. "It's Kai, right? You had a fantastic showing out there in the first round. That was plus ultra!" Recovery Girl hit him over the head with a rolled up magazine.

He didn't see my second round fight. He was here, wasn't he? I looked over at Midoriya who didn't catch on to how perplexed I was. "Did you beat Ibara?"

I nodded and his face dropped. "Damn, I wanted to watch and support you."

I smiled lightly, "Support me when I face off against Todoroki, I'm going to need it."

All Might just stood there for a moment before saying "Okay I must be going now. Midoriya, you get well and Kai, good luck on your next match up. I'm sure you'll be splendid."

Midoriya laid on the bed as All Might and Recovery girl left. I looked at his damaged body and reflexively looked away. He asked me what was wrong, but I couldn't say exactly.

"Just kind of feeling guilty."

"For what?" he asked.

I looked at his battered face. "That maybe I should've told you that you were crazy."

He chuckled, "I'm glad you didn't. I don't want you to feel guilty. I had to do what I did during that fight."

I sat beside him waiting for Recovery Girl to come back and give him the clear to leave when I noticed his hands. They were disfigured and scarred. I just sat there as I traced the scar with my thumb.

"Kai," he said softly to get my attention. "It's fine. I'm okay."

"This doesn't look okay."

He took a deep breath, "No, it doesn't and it could've been worse. But I'd do it again."

I looked at him. "I know you would."

And that's what terrifies me.


	11. Chapter 11

"Kai, we're going to be the best heroes who are best friends!"

I hear that voice all of the time. Every time I think about you. Every time I watch heroes save people. Every time I take part in some test. Whenever my mettle is put to the test I remember your words, Haruto.

No matter what has happened these few years, those words have stuck with me. They've lived inside me every waking moment. I don't know if it's a good thing or a curse. Sometimes it's the latter and I hate myself.

You're gone and yet you aren't.

I stood in front Todoroki, focusing only on him, ignoring the cheers of the crowd. Even though I cared about him I needed to get passed him. I needed to defeat him and win this sports festival. I've made it this far. There's no room for error.

"Lets the first semifinal match begin!" Present Mic declares.

Todoroki makes the first attack and it's a predictable one. I quickly blast away the ice he sends my way. He continues to use his ice quirk on me so I keep blasting it until I get up in his face. I create a blast to get his attention, but then punch him with my other hand and then hit him with the blast.

After watching his battle with Midoriya I know how he'll save himself, so I send another blast his away but not to hit him. It hits the ice wall he creates to stop himself. It causes him to lose his balance but before he can get it back I punch him in the stomach and then toss him behind me.

I'm not going for a quick win here.

I look over at his father who is watching intently.

"Is that all you have?" I ask Todoroki as he gets up.

He wipes the blood coming from his lower lip but says nothing. He glares at me and attacks me again with his ice.

"Pathetic," I say as I jump out of the way. When I land, another one of his attacks has gotten to me so I quickly create a blast to destroy it. The blast sends me back a couple feet, but it's put me off balance

Todoroki doesn't waste any time and charges at me. He puts his right hand up but he pulls it down at the last second and punches me in my stomach with his left. He mimicked my tactic. Instead of giving me time to get up he keeps punching and kicking me.

He picks me up off the ground and knees me in the gut causing me to lose my breath. He keeps his grip on my shirt and brings me up to my feet. I see his fire side begin to activate, but before he can attack me I blast him with my left hand that is dangling down by his abdomen.

I can see his fire side is still active so I decide to step up my attack with a Big Bang Blast. He creates multiple ice walls, most of which explode on impact. However, before he did I watched his fire side quell. He can't use both of his sides at the same time.

I was still breathing heavily so I waited for him to make the next move. I didn't want to use my energy blast so that I could conserve some energy. However, he fired off some fire through his ice wall and at me.

A portion of the uniform on my shoulder is burnt off.

"You're gonna need to try harder," he says.

I fire off another Big Bang Blast which connects with his ice attack creating an explosion. I use this to sneak on by to him but he's ready. He punches me in the face and then in the gut. As I bend over he lifts his knee and hits me in the face with it causing me to fall down.

In a vulnerable state he furthers it by picking me up, pushing me away from him and icing me. He puts extra ice on my hands which leaves me incapable of breaking through. Midnight looks like she is about to call it but I yell at her. "No. I'm not incapacitated. I can still fight."

She nodded but I could tell she was going to end it at any moment.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked. "You've lost. You can't break my ice."

"I'm going to and I'm going to beat you, Shoto."

He twitched and punched me in the face, "Don't call me that."

I spit blood down by his feet and look at Endeavor. "Cause of him? You're going to let him still control your emotions after what Midoriya said to you?"

Todoroki shook his head and punched me again. He just stared at me for a few seconds before turning to Midnight, "Call it, now."

"You're sole duty was to become better than All Might. Do you know why that is, Todoroki?"

He looked back at me and clenched his fist. "Because he," I said looking at Endeavor, "he is a failure." The crowd murmured.

Todoroki's fist was still clenched but he didn't punch me. He just kept his eyes on my, but his breathing had slowed. His eyes briefly widened but went back to his typical scowling look. "He failed to top All Might. That meant more to him than anything. And then you came around. You are gifted, far more than he is and he knows it. But his ego controls him. His ego doesn't allow him to see you as a person. You're just another object in his one sided war with All Might."

An Ice cold fist slams into my face. "Shut. Up." His voice gritted.

I looked down on at his feet and listened to his breathing. It grew faster. He was mad but he was confused. I closed my eyes and focused my energy which I had been building in my hands during our conversation. I'm not sure how it's going to go but I know I'm getting out of this damn ice.

I let the energy free and it explodes in my hands which sends Todoroki sliding back on his feet. I don't wait for everyone to see what is happening so I charge Todoroki and slam my fist into his stomach. I keep hitting him in the body until he starts flaring on his left side. I quickly blast his abdomen sending him back again.

Angered, he lets out a scream and charges me with his inflamed arm. The attack hits me and for a brief moment I lost myself. When I came to my senses he came back to hit me in the stomach. He was going for the knockout punch but I wouldn't let him. I can tell my energy was low and I was beyond tired, but I had to fire off a defensive Big Bang Blast.

Unfortunately the blast from the impact of our attack hits me harder sending my flying into the air and crashing down to the ground. My body was shutting down.

"Kai get up!" I hear a voice.

Haruto is looking at me. We were 8. I had blown myself up by accident. At the time I didn't know it was my quirk but later on I found out it was. He was pushing my shoulder to try and wake me but all it did was make my headache worse. When I came to he got my mom who was in our house. She came running out and all I remember were here screams. She was terrified.

Next thing I remember after that was being in the hospital bed with bandages wrapped around my right hand. I had other bandages on my face because apparently I hit a tree after impact. When my mom and the doctor left Haruto grew a big smile.

"It was like you had a big blast with your hand, Kai. It was so amazing," he said looking at me with his beedy and sparkling blue eyes.

"Really? That's so cool," I said still groggy but excited.

"Kai, we're going to be the best heroes who are best friends!"

I breathed heavily as I heard another voice in the background. "Kai, are you okay?"

I think it was Midnight but I couldn't tell. My face was on the ground and my eyes were looking at the stands. I have to get up. Now.

I willed myself up on my unsteady feet and legs. I looked at Todoroki who was slightly breathing heavier. I was pushing him to his limit. In a few seconds I created a Big Bang Blast attack in my hands. It was hard to control but I was able to dig deep and stabilize it.

"Stop this, Kai. Don't do this to your body," Todoroki said.

I did it anyway and sent the blast towards him. He respond by using his special ice attack creating a massive wall around me.

I blew it away with one Big Bang Blast. The crowd was silent and so was Present Mic. Midnight kept an eye on me as I approached Todoroki with my hands closed together. I pulled them apart and birthed another Big Bang Blast. I lifted up slightly above eye level and focus heavier. I pulled my hands apart from each other and doubled the Big Bang Blast.

This was every thing I had.

"Please Kai. I know those blasts sap your energy. I don't want you to hurt yourself." Finally.

Thank you Shoto.

I put my hands together and absorbed the blasts. There was a look of relief on his face that I didn't think I'd see. I turned around and began to walk away to the edge of the fighting arena.

"W-what are you doing?" he asks.

I turn so my right side is facing him and smile. "I won."

I step out and Midnight declares Todoroki the victor as I walk through the exit tunnel.


	12. Chapter 12

Sitting in Recovery Girl's room I took the time to think about my fight. I probably couldn't have beaten Todoroki, so I decided to focus on accomplishing another goal and that was getting him to at least stop being so reserved and cold.

Midoriya came to the room to check on me. He told me Bakugo made quick work of Iida and that there will be a 15 minute break before the Finals match. He also told me that Todoroki was dissonant when he left the arena.

"I really thought you were going to launch that last blast," he said as he stood next to the chair I was siting in. Recovery Girl had just wrapped up my hand that started to bleed again and placed some ointment on the numerous cuts I received. She thanked me for not having any broken bones.

"I was going to if he didn't say what he said."

Midoriya looked away. "Well I'm glad he did then."

"I am too."

After a few moments of silence Midoriya and I walked out of the room and towards the viewing area to see the match between Bakugo and Todoroki.

"Midoriya," I start off with a crack in my voice. "Is it weird that I can't help but want to be there for Shoto? I was so angry with him today, but in the end I saw someone lost and I wanted him to know he's not alone."

Midoriya took a while to respond. I didn't look at him so not to make him feel uncomfortable. "No. You're a good person, or at least I think so. But also, you kinda remind me of him."

"How so?"

"You're both fighting to be heroes for someone else." I looked at Midoriya who kept his eyes straight ahead. "I am too," he whispered.

His face turned. He looked so determined but scared, unsure if he was capable. There was nothing I or he had left to say about that matter. The words just hung in the air between us until Endeavor popped up around the corner.

"You, you're that Kai kid?"

He approached me in an intimidating manner. "Yeah, what's it to you?"

"You better watch your tongue the next time you talk bad about me. My son will surpass that pathetic All Might and you will not get in the way of that."

He pushed his way by me causing me to bump into Midoriya who was still hurting from his fight with Todoroki. I was seething with rage.

"Endeavor!" I call out as I turn around. Midoriya whispers in my ear to stop it, but I can't.

Endeavor stops walking but doesn't turn around. "If you hurt Shoto, I'll kill you."

I could feel energy blasts forming at the palm of my hands but I didn't look down. I could see Midoriya look down and then he slowly and lightly grabbed my forearm. Endeavor didn't move. As I breathed heavily and struggle to tame the rage that was building, he was calm. His body wasn't reacting to my words and it made me want to blast him away. Across the corridor I could see the shadow of someone as if they are just standing around the corner towards another hallway.

This wasn't the place to attack Endeavor; not where someone unrelated can get hurt. Midoriya tugged lightly on my arm and calmly said, "Come on, Kai." I relented and let Midoriya guide me to where we needed to go.

I couldn't focus on the battle between Bakugo and Shoto. I was so filled with rage that it clouded my mind. However, I was able to see that Shoto had reverted back to his previous self. He was only using his ice quirk even when Bakugo shouted at him. He mocked him for being "weak."

Midoriya and I both came to the conclusion that Shoto was unsure of how he was going to use his quirk. His whole reasoning for using the ice quirk had been blown up by Midoriya and I. He's a boy with a battered resolve.

Meanwhile, Bakugo is anything but. His resolve has always been strong and unwavering. That's why it was not surprising to see Bakugo win. However, to see Shoto be so dismissive of losing was surprising.

As for 3rd place, both Iida and I got to share it. I looked over at Shoto and he looked uninterested. Meanwhile, Bakugo had to be restrained and gagged. He attempted to resist All Might who was trying to place a medal around his neck.

When the festival was over Midoriya and I went home together. I didn't get to see or talk to Shoto afterwards, which may have been for the best. I'll see him in a couple days at school regardless.

Midoriya complains about his inability to control his quirk all of the time, but I attempt to help him look at the positives. "You were able to control it, finally. One step at a time, Midoriya. That's all you need to focus on."

He sighed, "Yeah, but what if my friends need me. What if the League of Villains attack again? Am I just going to be useless?"

I hadn't really thought about the League since the sports competition began. It's been out of my mind completely as strange as that is. "I don't think you could ever be useless with that quirk."

This also makes me think of something else I haven't thought about in a while. "You were quirkless, right? Like even as a few months ago?"

I touched a nerve because his body began to tense up. "Yeah."

"What happened that made you not quirkless? It's rare for someone's quirk to become evident at such an old age, relatively speaking of course."

He didn't say anything at first. His eyes scattered about as if he was searching for the answer. An answer he didn't have.

"Actually, nevermind Midoriya. I'm sorry for asking. To be honest, I don't know much about you before UA. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable," I said with an ounce of guilt. I knew he was hiding something, and as much as I don't think it's something traumatic I shouldn't pry too much into something he clearly wants to keep to himself.

I have to respect that.

"It's okay, Kai. I get it. One day I'll tell you, I promise," he said with a weak smile.

A couple days have passed and quite a few things have occurred. Iida' older brother was attacked by some villain called The Hero Killer: Stain. Apparently this person has been killing heroes recently, and some are suggesting he's involved with the League of Villains.

Meanwhile, on the local front, with the Sports Festival over I've received some attention from fans. I can't say I was happy about it even though most of it was positive.

Most of it.

I heard a few people at time call me an abomination because I had 3 quirks. I heard some old lady even say that I shouldn't even be allowed in UA because it's unfair to the other students that I have such an advantage.

Except I friggin lost at the sports festival, but whatever.

It was exactly what I feared would happen, but I couldn't let that deter me. I needed to move forward and ignore the negativity, especially when there were so many people saying nice things about me.

When I get to class the first thing I want to do is talk to Shoto, but when I approach him he says, "Don't Kai. Save your breath."

His tone lacks conviction even though he's trying. I don't say anything and decide to go talk to Midoriya who is still wearing bandages around his right arm.

Mr. Aizawa finally arrives to class and tells us that we're going to be coming up with our hero names. This is due to us being recruitable by heroes. It's helpful to have a hero name especially since we'll be interning with them for the next week.

Then Aizawa turned our attention to the front board which had a projection on it. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.


	13. Chapter 13

***Midoriya***

Aizawa stood next to this projection and explained that it was showing us who received interning requests and how many. Bakugo and Todoroki received the most, although the latter more than the former. However, I received none along with a couple others.

There was one name I wasn't expecting to see show up, and that was Kai. I looked over at him and he looked absolutely devastated. I didn't know what to say to him as Mr. Aizawa spoke. Uraraka looked at me concerned for Kai.

I recall that moment during the sports festival before the finals when we met with Endeavor I saw a side of Kai I didn't expect. One full of rage and defiance. He was ready to attack Endeavor with his blasts.

His blasts were the thing that concerned me. His left hand held a bluish tinted energy blast, but his right held a red one. He never told me about the red color, but I knew the blue one shows that he was being protective. During his battle with Todoroki, all of his blasts were that color compared to the yellow or white tint in his other battles. Not once were they red nor has he ever mentioned it.

When Midnight came in and handed us small canvases to write our hero name, I struggled to come up with something. Kai didn't even pick up the marker. He was completely out of it. In the corner of the room I noticed Mr. Aizawa looking at Kai. I couldn't tell what he was thinking but it wasn't like Aizawa to focus on a student like that. Then at the corner of my eye I even saw Todoroki sneak a peak at Kai, but when he saw me look at him he looked away.

Everyone seemed to look at Kai at some point. He came in 3rd and received nothing. How? How can no hero want him?

As Midnight had students come to the front and show off their hero name I knew an awkward moment was due. I was finally able to settle on Deku, simply because of Uraraka and Bakugo. Uraraka believes in me, but I also wanted to turn Bakugo's mean spirited nickname for me as way to challenge myself. I wanted Deku to mean something else.

Then it was Kai's turn. Midnight called him up to the front but he didn't move. He just sat their stone-faced until she called him up again.

"I don't have one," he said glumly.

Midnight didn't seem to catch on, "Oh I see, well don't worry. I'm sure something will come up."

"Unlikely," he muttered.

Midnight smiled, "There's no reason to be so down about it. You'll figure something out."

Bakugo scoffed. "He's not mad about some stupid name. He's mad because nobody wants him. What's the point of a hero name when you won't be a hero."

Kai darted his eyes to Bakugo as Mr. Aizawa admonished him.

"You think you're gonna be a hero, Bakugo?" Kai whispered.

"Damn right. And 3,000 heroes want me to intern with them."

Kai clenched his fists, "You're more of a villain than a hero."

Before Bakugo could react, Mr. Aizawa ordered both of them to cut it out. Kai got up out of seat and left the classroom. I got up to go after him, but Mr. Aizawa told me to sit back down.

"Let him go. He'll be fine."

Todoroki shot me a look and for a moment I think he was concerned but I couldn't tell.

"So much for 'The Unbroken,'" Bakugo quipped with laughter. Nobody else laughed. Mr. Aizawa admonished him again and told him to stay after class.

Kai did not come back to class, and when it ended Mr. Aizawa told me to stay put. He warned Bakugo to watch his mouth and that if he crosses the line again then he'll be expelled. Once Bakugo left, Mr. Aizawa took a deep breath.

"You know where he is?"

I shook my head.

"Text him, Midoriya. Tell him to come to the classroom please," he said calmly. He then walked away and got on his phone. 

_Me: Kai, where are you? Mr. Aizawa wants to see you in class. _

_Me: I'm here too. I'm worried about you._

He didn't respond but I saw that he read the text. Meanwhile, Mr. Aizawa got off the phone and approached my desk again. "How often does he get that angry?"

I took a moment to think. "Rarely. He gets frustrated, but I've only seen him get that angry once."

"When?" Mr. Aizawa asked.

"At the Sports Festival. We bumped into Endeavor who threatened him to stay away from Todoroki."

Mr. Aizawa didn't budge a bit. "And?" he asked knowing there was more to it. I didn't want to say anything. I couldn't. "Midoriya, I can't help him if I don't know what I'm dealing with."

I sighed and rubbed the nape of my neck. I was so scared but Mr. Aizawa wanted to know so badly.

"I threatened to kill him," a voice said at the front of the classroom. There I saw a weary Kai, who's eyes were red.

He said it so plainly but it wasn't like that. I had to add context to it, "He only threatened him if he hurt Shoto."

Mr. Aizawa glared at me. "I know." He then looked over at Kai and said, "I don't know why you received zero offers. So for that reason, and I'm not happy to do this, I'm going to give you the option to intern with me. I need an answer now or-"

"I'll do it," Kai answered right away wiping a tear from his face.

I could feel my eyes struggling to keep my emotions controlled, and I just knew I was smiling too much. I was so happy for Kai and to see his reaction was everything. Mr. Aizawa ordered him to go to the bathroom and splash some water on his face and then come back. "I'm sure Midoriya will wait for you."

Kai thanked him several times and left the room. Mr. Aizawa grabbed his sleeping bag and was ready to head out before I interrupted him.

"Thank you Mr. Aizawa. Thank you for giving him a chance."

Mr. Aizawa froze and looked at me with a side glance. "There's a reason he came in 3rd. He could've won with ease if he put himself first. Now would be the worst time for his future to end."

"I see," I say softly.

Mr. Aizawa's eyes shut for a moment. "You two should keep training." He didn't open his eyes or look at me. He just walked out of the classroom and left me there to wait for Kai.

He knows that we've trained together? I guess he could've been there since we were out in the open. I hadn't trained with Kai since then but I've wanted to since. Maybe we'll find time during the week.

When Kai gets back he was springy and positive. He wore a smile on his face from ear to ear. We took a moment to gather his stuff and walked outside the class. As we he was humming we hard a couple voices talking as we passed All Might's office.

They were talking about Kai.

"How'd he get zero offers?" All Might asked.

Mr. Aizawa was there too. "Not sure."

There was a silence in the room before another familiar voice spoke up. "Perhaps he did," Midnight said.

Kai and I looked at each other. I could tell his mind was spinning with thoughts, and to be honest so was mine.

"What are you saying?" Mr. Aizawa asked cautiously.

"That boy is the first multi-quirked user of UA. There were some fans at the Festival calling him an abomination."

"Real heroes wouldn't call him that," All Might interrupted.

"Agreed. Regardless, if you think someone decided to delete the offers, we need to be careful," Mr. Aizawa warned

I looked at Kai whose eyes were closed as he focused in on the conversation. Why would someone delete the offers? Who would have such clearance to do so? The teachers inside didn't contemplate who specifically would do something like that but it seems like someone of significant power and influence.

A part of me thought maybe Endeavor was involved. He'd be the only person I think outside of UA who could have enough influence to do something so nefarious.

"Thankfully he has you to help him out," Midnight stated. "You're a good teacher."

"I'm not sure how much help I can be to him. Our quirks and styles are a bit of a mismatch."

All Might agreed with both. "Yes, but someone of that strength needs good and stern direction. You're perfect for him."

Mr. Aizawa said nothing more about it.

"Anyways, I need to go see young Midoriya," All Might said.

"He shouldn't be far. He and Kai were just in my class and knowing them they probably took their time leaving, as usual."

Kai and I looked at each other an tried not to laugh. We are typically the last people to leave the class. We can't help but talk to each other and our other friends. But also we walk home together until we split halfway through to go our own way.

We also don't walk fast because walking fast means less time talking and hanging out with each other.

Kai motioned with his head and stepped away from the door. He didn't want to get caught listening in on the conversation between the 3 teachers, so we quickly walked away.

As walked out of the school we spoke about what we heard. We both agreed that Endeavor seems like the likeliest person to have done something like this, but Kai was very unsure. He opened up about how he feels like abomination himself. He told me how he's heard people in public call him such to his face and behind his back.

"But I'm still going to fight for my dream, Midoriya. I want to be a hero. I promised myself and someone in my past. I was going to be the best hero."

When he said someone in his past I assumed he meant his mother, but I recognized how weird it would be to refer to her as someone in his past. He's never talked much about his past, just bits and pieces which were typically about something positive or a fond memory.

He never mentioned a friend by name or his dad.


	14. Chapter 14

***Kai***

It's my first day of interning with Mr. Aizawa. Because he doesn't typically do something like this he told me to come to the school in order to get training in. I wasn't sure what he had planned for me to do, and I doubt he knew too.

When I got to the school Mr. Aizawa is there along with some teachers and students. He brings me around the building to the P.E. Grounds.

"Why do you want to be a hero?" he asked me randomly.

"Because I want to help people in need."

He stared at me. "No. Why do you want to be a hero?"

I looked away and kept quiet for a moment as he kept looking at me. "I made a promise to a friend I couldn't protect."

Mr. Aizawa gave me understanding look, "A villain?"

I nodded. "The worst kind. The kind that kills without discrimination."

"I'm sorry, Kai."

I nodded and focused on something else. I wasn't going to get emotional and cry in front of my teacher. I'm not going to be that pathetic.

At least not today.

He pointed to a tree in the distance, "Alright, I want you to run. You're going to run from that tree and back. You'll keep going until you are too tired."

I just look at him and then at the tree. Are you friggin serious? I'm going to run? Why?

"Go!" he barks

So I went. How is this supposed to help become a hero? I'm just running from point a to point b. Was there more to this than he let on? As I ran I started looking around. What if there was something I was missing, something obvious? What if I'm supposed to see something?

Except I wasn't seeing anything. Nobody was here. It was just a bunch of trees and dirt. Oh and Mr. Aizawa.

Unfortunately, Mr. Aizawa didn't give me anything else to go on. He just watched me run, so I ran. After about 45 minutes I was getting really tired. However, I was also getting very angry. The summer sun was beginning to really make me sweat so on top of continuing to run, I took off my shirt and tossed it on the ground.

When I got to Mr. Aizawa I kinda lashed out, "Satisfied!?"

He said nothing and just kept watching me run. Even when I fell he didn't say or do anything. He just kept his eyes on me as if he expected me to keep going, so I got up and kept running. After falling I probably didn't last another 7 minutes. I arrived back to the starting point and dropped to my knees and felt like I was hyperventilating.

He hit me with the cloth that hangs around his neck. I looked at him angrily for hitting me while I'm down. "What hell was that for?!"

He hit me again so I prepared to blast him, but he stopped me with his quirk. I slap my leg for failing to predict that.

"Not that quirk," he calmly said to me as he hit me again.

I charged him and swung my fists at him, but he dodged me every time. He even got to hit me at points. I fell back down to my knees and struggled to keep my breath. I'm going to pass out if I don't get a break.

He hit me again so I stood up.

I went back at him again with a different strategy. I watched as he sent his special cloth towards me and used my eye quirk to dodge his attacks. Once I got through his first attack he started to move backwards and side-to-side. My eyes were starting to get watery as I kept trying to seeing his attacks and movements.

One thing about my eye quirk is that it's similar but pretty different to Mr. Aizawa's. Mr. Aizawa cannot blink while he uses his quirk. I can. However, if I'm tired my quirk works less and typically when someone's eyes are tired they become strained and you start to tear up. My quirk amplifies it and starts making me blurry.

After a few seconds I nearly got hit and it knocked me a bit off balance. I needed to get a punch in and so, in realizing he wasn't using his quirk, I decided to create a blast. I knew where his cloth was going before he used his quirk to shut mine down, but it distracted him and gave me an opening.

I missed and fell to the ground.

I couldn't get up right away.

"Show me that special attack."

Are you serious, right now? I couldn't stand, barely making it to my knees to begin with. I was breathing so heavily that it felt like my lungs were going to explode out of my chest. They actually began to hurt.

"Now, Kai or this internship is done."

He's really irritating me, so I tried as hard as I could but I couldn't muster a blast. He didn't react. I screamed and tried again. This time I was successful. I surprised myself.

Then it disappeared due to Mr. Aizawa's quirk. "I'll see you tomorrow, Kai. Same time."

Breathing heavily I struggled to ask, "Why? What was the point?!"

"You can't protect your friends if you just quit because you're too tired." It was all he said before leaving me to my own devices. I just stared as he walked away.

So there was something I didn't see. Fuck. His words mean more with the new threat roaming around.

I picked up my shirt and put it on. I was feeling really disgusting, body drenched in dirt and sweat. I was sweating so much the dirt was becoming mud. I texted Midoriya and asked how his internship was going but I didn't get a response right away. Guess he's still in the middle of it.

When I got home I quickly jumped in the shower. The water at my feet was so dirty I nearly vomited. I couldn't believe how much dirt was on me.

Once I got out I decided to take a short nap. That short nap became a very long one that even my cat seemed nervous. She was standing on the bed looking at my face with a paw up. I think she may have been patting my head. She tends to do that when I oversleep in the morning.

I look at my phone and Midoriya finally responded. Apparently, the hero he is interning with is a real weirdo. Yesterday after leaving the school, All Might caught up to us and asked to speak to Midoriya. When Midoriya was done talking to All Might he told me that he'd received an offer from someone called Gran Torino. I had never heard of this hero and when I looked him up I found nothing.

But why did All Might feel the need to secretly tell Midoriya that if Midoriya was just allowed to tell me soon after? What wasn't I allowed to know and why didn't Midoriya seem conflicted? Could All Might know something about Midoriya's quirk that I don't or am not allowed to know?

That doesn't make sense. I tried to rack my brain on this connection between Midoriya and All Might. Then I remembered how Midoriya was skittish about telling me how he found his quirk. Is it possible that All Might could pass his quirk onto someone?

It would make sense how Midoriya shares similar attributes such as an increase in strength and speed. The super-powered punch is also a giveaway but that could just be because Midoriya looks up to All Might, so of course he'd emulate him.

Ugh. What's the point in trying to figure it out anyways? He's my best friend, he'll tell me when he's ready and that's that.

Over the next couple of days Mr. Aizawa continued to push me to my limits. Today I passed out, which is unfortunate because I tried so hard not to. With each day that passed he had me run a longer distance and told me to run more laps than I did the previous day. Then he would start the next phase with combat. He was testing my mental fortitude but also forcing me to push the barriers of my stamina, which allows me more energy to draw from for my blasts. Not only that it strengthened my eye quirk allowing me to focus better even when they become watery.

After the combat exercise he forced me to create my special, but this time he wanted me to do what I did at the sports festival. At the festival, in my match up with Shoto, I was able to duplicate my energy blast and control it. Unfortunately this require a lot of energy, it isn't just putting the same energy into this duplication. It's putting more to create an exact copy and then having to maintain control of it.

Today, I lost control. Thankfully, when I pass out the energy in the blasts disappears. It's wasted energy rather than a physical object like a cocked grenade.

Mr. Aizawa woke me up with a bucket of cold water. He didn't help me to stand up, instead forcing me to do it myself. I was furious with myself but there was nothing I could do.

"What did you learn today?" he asked me.

Looking at my right hand, which was the first to lose control, as I replied, "I would be out cold while someone I cared about died."

Mr. Aizawa just looked at me for a moment. "I know you thrive on pushing yourself and not failing. However, failure is good. Dying isn't. Focus on the former to avoid the latter. I'll see you tomorrow."

I just nodded and walked away. There was nothing for me to say. I just had to think about everything and try to adjust my thought process.

Except I needed to shower and get a nap in before heading into work later.


	15. Chapter 15

***Midoriya***

Training with Gran Torino has taught me more about my quirk and it's abilities than expected. Gran Torino also mentored All Might, so it makes sense that he'd know more about One for All than myself.

In the beginning of the internship it was hard for me to keep up with him, but as I've gained more knowledge and control of my quirk I've learned how to keep up. I now know how to utilize my quirk for speed and that doesn't hurt me. I still don't know about my smashes, however.

After a short training session in which Gran Torino gave me a mission to hit him, he told me that there was little more he could teach me in the small house he lived in. He said that it was time to go deal with real crimes and real villains, so that excited me a lot that I had to text Kai.

I wanted to know if Mr. Aizawa was going to go out and face villains with him too, or if they've already done so. Kai didn't get back to me right away, which from what he's told me about training with Mr. Aizawa isn't surprising. Apparently, Mr. Aizawa is pushing Kai to his limits every day.

Not once did he regret anything he was doing, so for what it's worth it seems like he's getting a lot out of it.

Gran Torino and I finally head on the train to go to a populated area where villains should be roaming free. He remarks how even with all of the heroes there still more villains, villains that have learned to be more devious since All Might burst onto the scene.

As the train approach Hosu City I decided to text Iida who I knew was in the city. We haven't talked all that much since the attack on his brother, which occurred in Hosu City itself. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure the only reason Iida took the internship here is because of that attack. I just hope The Hero Killer doesn't find him, or vice-versa.

As I look at my phone I hear a dim noise from far away and some yells that there was an explosion in the city. A few seconds later a Nomu blasted it's way into the train. Gran Torino quickly engaged and ordered me to stay put, but I couldn't do that. I had to join the fight so I went towards Hosu City and looked for him.

Fires were starting to rage as chaos rained down on the city. So many heroes were around trying to save people. That's when I found another Nomu flying around. It was clear this was related to the USJ attack.

Just how bad was this attack?

As I scoured the city I finally found Gran Torino dealing with a Nomu. I heard another hero, Manual, call out for Iida. He was missing. I had to go find him. While I did I shot a text to a couple of my friends that may be in the area.

When I did I was in shock. He was on the ground not moving laying by the feet of who I assumed to be The Hero Killer. The Hero Killer was holding a sword to Iida head and told him to prepare to die.

The shock I was in was replaced by a need to jump and save my friend. I used One For All's abilities to land a charged smash attack on the face of The Hero Killer.

"Another false hero here to get in my way," he lamented. "Changes nothing. I let Ingenium live to send a message. I'll kill you two," he says to Iida and the other Pro Hero that's on the ground.

It's Pro Hero Native, whom I didn't even realize was there. This situation just became more precarious so I quickly sent my location to my friends hoping they'd be in the area.

"I am Stain, and I'm going to rid this world of false heroes!" he yells as he charges me with two small blades.

Iida yells at me and tells me to get away and that this was his fight. I ignored him and hit Stain with my new Detroit Smash attack using only 5% of One For All. Stain quickly adjusts himself for another attack that I was able to dodge.

Or so I thought.

He licked his blade and I felt immobilized.

What the hell is this quirk? Is that why he has all of these sharp knives and swords? But how long am I immobilized?

I didn't know but I kept trying to move my body to no avail. Stain approached the Pro Hero Native again. Just as he was about to kill him a stream of fire blasted his way causing him to abandon his goal for a moment.

It was Todoroki.

"You could've given me more information to work with, Midoriya."

"S-sorry. Was a little busy here."

He sighed and sent a wall of ice towards Stain. He takes the moment he's given himself to drag me away from stain and closer to where he entered in the alleyway.

"What's his quirk?" he asks me.

"It immobilizes us if he tastes our blood."

"O-kay that's gross. He's gotta have a limit on it? Maybe a time or victim limit."

Better idea then what I had, but before we could talk more Stain attempted to attack Todoroki. However, he was met with a mix of fire and ice attacks as Todoroki did his best to keep the distance between them at a decent size.

"You aren't going to kill my friends, Hero Killer. The pros will be here any moment."

Stain makes another attempt to attack Todoroki but he was repelled by another ice attack. However, this time he gets through it and throws two small knives at Todoroki. 1 of the knives grazes his right arm but the other slams into his left shoulder. He lets out a yelp as Stain jumps into the air with another knife in his hand.

No. Shoto. I need to get up! I keep my eyes on Stain and I feel my legs start to move. I was free!

I tackled Shoto to the ground before Stain got to him. Shoto quickly reacted and iced the knife that sliced his right arm. It made it harder for Stain to get to and lick the blood. As for the knife in his shoulder he pulled it out and screeched in pain.

Shaking, he iced his shoulder to stop the bleeding and then iced the knife itself before tossing it behind him. Stain looked on annoyed by us, but he had a weird look of amazement as if he respected our resolve.

"How are you free but they aren't?" Shoto asked. He proceeded to suggest that there may be a time limit, but Native rejected the idea.

Native pointed out that I was the last one immobilized but the first one to get free. This led me to believe it was based on blood type. Stain confirmed my deduction.

"I don't need much time to kill someone."

I turned to Shoto and tell him to support me as I attack. He resists but with Stain coming to attack he had no choice but agree with me. We needed him to not get immobilized.

Unfortunately, Stain slices my body in several places leading to a lot of blood loss. Before he could lick his blade Iida moved and used his quirk to kick Stain in the face. This gives me the energy to keep going as Iida and I fight Stain.

Stain is still able to stay one step ahead of us and stabs Iida in the arm again, but before he could lick it Shoto hits him with a fire blast. I take this opportunity to smash Stain in the ribs knocking him into the wall. Iida follows up with a kick that sends him slamming into a large garbage dumpster.

But Stain gets up.

"You foolish false hero," he says to Iida. "You came to find me because I hurt your brother. That's selfish and rage. How different are you from me?"

"I don't kill people!" Iida yelled.

Stain's grin grew. "If you were to kill me, would it matter to everyone?" The question sat in the air like an unopened pandora's box. Except we've opened it and didn't know. "No it wouldn't. Who gives you the right to kill, huh? You're a false hero."

Iida looked down as the words resided with him like it did Shoto and I. We all agreed he was a fanatic, but there was something different about him than other villains. He mixed truth in with what he was preaching. It opened our eyes about what makes a hero a hero, what will it do to the common people?

"You're right. I am a false hero, but I will do everything I can to be better and bring monster like you to justice. I'll do it for my brother and the Ingenium name!"

Iida demands for Shoto to freeze his radiators and launches a super charged attack. This was it. This was our chance. I jump off my feet and go at Stain with a foll blown smash attack. Shoto uses his quirk to distract Stain as Iida and I connect with him causing him to fall to the ground.

Shoto grabs a rope from Native, who has become free from Stain's ability, as I fall to the ground, exhausted and hurt. He restrains Stain and Native picks me up.

Little did we know, the we weren't out of the woods yet.

As we attempted to leave the alleyway to find the pros we were met by a Nomu that fell to the ground. It wasn't as big as the one we faced at the USJ, but I bet it was still strong.

"What do we do?!" Shoto asked holding a restrained Stain.

Before I could answer him something blue buzzes by my face and hits the Nomu causing an explosion.

"You guys okay?" A voice asks.

I turn my head and see Kai standing nearby in some weird uniform that had the name of some restaurant along with a phone number.

Kai walks in front of Native and looks at me with a smile, "Boy you look like shit."

He looks over at Shoto and asks, "Hero Killer?" He points to the person Shoto is holding.

"Yeah, he did a number on us."

Kai created another blue energy blast and waited for the Nomu to attack. "The pros are approaching the alleyway. They'll be here soon, including Endeavor," he says looking at Shoto.

The Nomu flies toward Kai and throws a punch but Kai dodges it and blasts it's abdomen with the blast he was holding. The Nomu lands a punch but Kai shakes it off and tags him with another blast.

Enraged, the Nomu charges at Kai but Kai is able to dodge and tag it with another blast. In quick succession he uses a Big Bang Blast on the Nomu. Kai is creating these blasts faster and controlling how localized the blast radius is. It seems like it allows the damage radius to be more centralized wherever he attacks.

After the blast Kai yells at us to run by and get out of the alleyway so we do. By the time we get to the sidewalk we see pro heroes up the block so we yell them over. We do not see Endeavor.

Behind me I can hear a loud bang and then silence. Then there is an abrupt roar from the Nomu before Kai is sent flying over us into a damaged building across the street.

"Kai!" I yell out.

Iida makes his way across the straight but Kai has already jumped down from the impact crater.

"Ow," he says as he rubs his left shoulder.

A pro hero yells at Kai to stand down, but Kai doesn't. He creates two Big Bang Blasts and pops them off at the Nomu. He then runs toward the Nomu with another blast in his hand, jumps up and hits it in the face causing the energy ball to explode.

The Nomu's face is busted but it still stands. Before he could get another punch in, Gran Torino shows up and scolds Kai for attacking when he was called off.

"He hurt me, so I hurt him back."

The Nomu tries to attack Gran Torino, but he was able to quickly dodge and hit it on the head. Then Endeavor showed up and called for everyone to back away. He took care of the Nomu in 1 punch.

As we all become settled down another Nomu, this time flying, grabs me and flies away. However, before I know it someone jumps on the Nomu and we all crash to the ground.

A hand grabs my shoulder and turns me around.

Stain.

His eyes meet mine and I swear I saw my life flash before my eyes. I thought he was going to kill me. With an ominous smile he points to Endeavor. "You, you are a false hero. You just want money and fame. You will be taken care of, Endeavor. I'll purge you and all of you false heroes from society. Only All Might is worthy."

When his bandages from his face fall off a weird aura envelopes the entire street. Fear runs rampant through us causing us to freeze as he laughs.

Thankfully, it ends when he falls down which later we were told was due to a perforated lung.


	16. Chapter 16

***Kai***

The heroes took care of the Nomu and saved the civilians. Some villains tried to take advantage of the situation but they were dealt with quickly. Endeavor, angry with Shoto for getting hurt, left the city and told him to stay the night at the hospital.

All three of them; Midoriya, Iida, and Shoto had stab and slash wounds all over. They struggled to defeat Stain who was all by himself. Midoriya was wrecked by numerous slashes and a broken arm. Shoto has a stab wound in his shoulder and Iida's arms were both stabbed.

As the nurses tended to them the doctor comes up to me and asks to look at my back because I have blood on my shirt. So I take off my shirt telling him that I'm okay.

"I was told by one of the officers that you fought one of the Nomu, correct?" I nodded. "Well outside a couple bruises and obvious puncture wounds from broken glass you do seem fine. I would expect a broken bone or two."

I nodded my head, "Yeah, well my quirk is that my bones don't break."

His eyes widened. "Oh my god. You're that kid from the Sports Festival. I thought I recognized you." I began to worry since a lot of my interactions with people who recall me from the Festival have been negative. "Well I'm glad that you are okay. If you need anything please come see," he said with a smile. He told me where his office was in case of an emergency.

Meanwhile, the nurses were finishing up with my friends. I looked down and saw my tattered and dirty uniform. My job. I didn't tell them that I got a bit sidetracked. That's when I looked at my phone and saw that I missed 16 phone calls and 43 texts.

I went outside to the balcony and called the manager of the restaurant who lost his shit on me. I let him curse me out before firing me. I couldn't respond back to him because he hung up on me.

"Cool," I say to myself.

I hear the door behind me open and Shoto appears next to me. "You get Midoriya's text too?"

"Yeah. I was delivering food when I got it. I rushed over there as fast I could without knowing what I was going to see. I wasn't expecting you and Iida, not to mention Stain."

"Well I'm glad you were there. That Nomu would've killed us."

I looked at him but he didn't look at me. Something was different about Shoto and I wanted to dig deeper but I couldn't. "I'm glad I was there too."

"Midoriya tells me those blasts of yours change based on emotion. The blue blasts represent protection, correct?"

Of course Midoriya told him.

"Yeah. I wanted to protect my friends. All three of you," I responded. I peaked over at him and I think I saw a small smile but maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me because it was gone immediately.

"This Stain guy is going to be a problem, Kai. I don't think we are ready."

I looked at him confused. "What do you mean? The police have him. He's going to be locked up and that's it."

He shook his head and gave me an intense look. "That's where you're wrong. Stain wasn't a typical villain. He had deep convictions and made all 3 of us kind of agree with something he said."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. He was saying that this fanatic actually made sense. But how?"

"What did he say?" I ask hoping for clarification.

"That heroes nowadays aren't interested on just saving people. They want money and fame."

"Wow, well um he's not wrong about that. Is that what he meant by false heroes?"

Shoto nodded. "That along with this League of Villains group. Both Stain and them are connected. This can get a lot worse before we know it."

My grip tightened on the railing I was holding. I looked down at the city below and said, "Well, we'll be there no matter what, right?" Shoto looks at me and takes a moment before nodding.

I know Midoriya will help fight the villains, because they want to kill All Might. Midoriya won't let them do that without attempting to stop them. Unfortunately, I do believe something is happening to All Might. I don't know if it's his age or something else. He's slower and weaker than he was.

After the USJ attack I had spoken to Midoriya about it. He mentioned something that took me by surprise; that the Nomu was able to match All Might. Now I had taken a punch from the Nomu, and although it was very strong, All Might should've destroyed it with ease.

That's not what happened. I should question Midoriya further about it.

Shoto and I went back in and called it a night. I didn't have to stay at the hospital with the others but I wanted to stay with them for the night anyways. I definitely won't be able to pay the bill for it but whatever. That's a problem for another day.

The next morning we were visited by Chief of Police of Hosu, Kenji Tsuragamae. With him came Pro Hero Manual, Gran Torino, and Aizawa.

Oh boy. I believe, on a scale from 1-10, I'm fucked at an 11.

Kenji starts off by criticizing us, which I can tell is going to make me blow a gasket.

"The 4 of you broke the rules. You are not authorized to use your quirks, and yet last night all 4 of you did." He then looked at me. "You were told to stop attacking the Nomu, and yet you disobeyed a command from a Pro, and proceeded to attack."

Shoto beat me to the punch.

"If we didn't use our quirks Stain would've killed Native. What you are saying is that we should've let Native be killed? How can you tell us to do that all the while trying to help become heroes?"

I could tell Kenji was going to respond but I wasn't going to let him. "I bet Shoto would be less of a headache for you if I let that Nomu killed him. Yeah that pro told me to stand down, but I don't care. I'm going to protect my friends regardless what you or anyone has to say."

"Shut it Kai," Aizawa sternly says to me. "Learn to listen before running your mouth."

Kenji just looked at us before sighing. "I'm not going to discipline you four. Thankfully, the only people who saw you using your quirks were the heroes. You will receive no recognition for your acts. I hope you understand that."

I rolled my eyes as I walked by them, "We don't care about recognition. All we cared about his saving each other, that's it. We're not Endeavor."

I didn't look back or wait for a response. I instead went to the floor desk to check myself out of the hospital and was given a $120 bill I won't be able to pay. Before I could sulk on the bill, somebody called out for me.

It was Aizawa.

"You were disrespectful."

"I'm aware. If you want me to apologize, I'm not going to."

He glared at me and shook his head. He didn't address my comments, instead grabbed the paper out of my hand. "How is an orphan going to pay this off?"

"I'll work extra time," I rebutted.

"I saw your work clothes. You lost your job didn't you?" I looked away. Why does he have to be so observant? "I'll pay this, and if you argue with me I will expel you for using your quirk without authorization, you hear me?!"

In a weird way this was his way of looking out for me. I couldn't help recall him talk about positively about me to the other teachers. Not to mention he decided to take me in for an internship. He cares.

"Okay."

Before I left he made a comment about how I should learn to be more respectable to authority. Without looking at him I said, "The first thing Kenji mentioned was recognition. Fame. He's used to heroes wanting that. There's a reason for Stain," I say recalling my brief conversation with Shoto.

A couple days later a viral video of Stain and his rant in Hosu popped up on social media. It was spread all over the internet and I immediately realized that my words meant a lot more than I expected them to.

Shoto was right, It was going to go get a lot worse.


	17. Chapter 17

*Todoroki*

The wound on my shoulder and arm hasn't healed but it matters not to my father, Endeavor, who've I decided to intern for. I still hate him, but he is the Number 2 hero for a reason. It would be a mistake if I let my resentment for him get in the way of me become the hero I want to be. I have to learn from him in order for me to surpass him.

And I will surpass him.

The stab wound from my shoulder was far from the worst case scenario. Stain missed vital ligaments and the joint where my arm connects. Because of that I'm not constrained to a cast, which is all my father cared about.

"If you can use your arms then you can use your quirk and train. You will train."

He decided to not take me out to deal with real life villains due to my injury but that didn't mean he couldn't go hard on me either. During the training session I realized he was going harder than normal. His fire attacks were more intense and the power in his punches were too.

"Is that all you have Shoto?! You want to surpass All Might? Prove it!" he barked as he tossed me into the wall.

With blood dripping from my lip I got up and send a wall of ice his way. I knew he would just use his quirk to melt it so I ran towards him. When he melted his way through the ice with a fire attack I was right there to hit him with my flame engulfed fist.

It didn't matter. He quickly reacted and punched me hard in the stomach. Then he grabbed my head and slammed me down into the ground. "You are pathetic, Shoto. Just like your mother."

I felt something in my chest explode and I lashed out and punched him in the face allowing me o get out of his hold. "Don't you dare talk about her!"

"Or what, Shoto?" His voice was cold.

"I'll kill you," I responded before turning around and leaving the training room. I just walked and kept walking. I realized the stitches in my shoulder came loose as blood slowly seeped through the shirt I was wearing.

I didn't know where to go but I didn't want to stay home. I could go to the hospital to see my mom, but I don't want her to see me like this.

There's only 1 place I can go to.

After a bit of a walk I come across a row of apartment houses. The one I was looking for had a sign with a bunch of blue jays on them. It said welcome. Outside was an old man sitting on a beach chair sipping on some tea.

"You look horrible. Can I help you, boy?" he asks as he stands.

I nod. "Yes. Is this where Kai lives?"

The old man's frown slowly disappears to a near smile. "You know Kai?"

"I do. H-he's a friend of mine," I struggle to admit.

I've never called him my friend. Not to him or anybody else. I don't really understand him to be honest, but there is something about him that I can't shake. Every once and a while I can't help but think about him.

Especially when he saves me. This is the 2nd time he's saved my life and for what reason? He calls me his friend, but I've been anything but that. Midoriya is the same way but Kai makes me feel differently and I don't know why.

The old man smiles and brings me inside. We walk up the stairs to the 2nd floor and down the hallway to the last door. When he knocks I feel my heart kind of stop in the moment. How was he going to react?

He saw the old man first and said, "Mr. Yairobi." Then he saw me and looked surprised, but he smiled. "Shoto." He looked closely and saw that I was a little worse for wear and the smile disappeared. "What happened?"

His voice of concern, no matter how many times he has saved me, surprised me. I shook my head because I wasn't just going to say my father did this in front of a stranger.

The old man looked at me and then Kai. "Are you sure I shouldn't call an ambulance? You are bleeding."

Kai smiled, "It's okay Mr. Yairobi. If I know Shoto, he got a little reckless. He'll be fine so there's no reason to worry."

The old man was placated. "Okay, my dear boy. If there's anything you need, please let me know."

Kai nodded and welcomed me into his apartment. On the kitchen counter there was an open container of Ramen with a fork in it. Next to the container was a cat. Kai closed the door and walked in front of me.

"So what did happen?' he asked me.

"My father got a little too intense in our training session."

He nodded and just looked at my wounds. He remarked how the cut on my eyebrow wasn't deep and was more of a scrape. He then told me to take my shirt off so he can see my shoulder wound.

"Fuck," he whispered as he moved the strap to my wife beater that I wore under the shirt. "I'm going to have to redo those sutures you know?"

I nod.

He sighs and gets up and goes into the hallway. His cat is still standing on the kitchen counter and is looking at me. When he comes back he says, "She wants you to pet her." He is carrying a small medical kit box and places it on the kitchen counter.

I just give him a look, "I'm not really cat person."

He pets his cat while wearing a bright smile on his face.

"So why'd you come here?" he asked suddenly getting serious. He proceeded to open the medical kit box and took out some supplies.

"You gave me your address."

I gave him a half truth. What I know about his energy blast quirk is that the color of it changes based on his emotions. The two times he saved me his blast were light blue. Even in our fight at the Sports Festival it was light blue. Light blue is when he's feeling protective.

There's no place I'd rather be than here where I know someone is going to take care of me. It's a sad and pathetic thought to be honest and I hate myself for it. How can I be the number 1 hero and think that? How can I be strong?

Does it matter? I wish I knew.

He didn't address my answer. Instead he just told me to ice my left shoulder around the wound. "This is going to hurt and I don't have alcohol to give you. Your quirk is the best we can do."

He wasn't lying about it hurting, but I could tell the ice was helping numb the pain. It took him about 10 minutes to finish up with the sutures, but it felt so much longer. He took a small rag and wet it before rubbing around the wound in order to clean the blood. He then folded it and wet it some more before taking it to my eyebrow. There's a moment where we catch each other's glance when I'm not sure if we will look away.

I didn't know how to feel looking into his eyes like that, but something in my mind said I was safe.

He put a bandage on the cut and told me wipe my face with another damp cloth. However, as I did I felt a sudden pain in my abdomen. He told me to lift my wife beater. I looked down and saw a bruising on the left side where my father punched me.

Kai placed his hand on the massive bruise, which didn't hurt until he pressed down. "Sorry." He asked me if my breathing caused pain in my abdomen but I told him that it didn't. He told to ice the area for a bit and warm it up. He wanted me to do it every 15 minutes.

As he looked at my abdomen he said, "I told him if he hurt you I'd kill him."

Was he talking about my father? "Told who?"

He looked up at me with a curled face, "Endeavor. It was after the fight at the festival. He told me to stay away from you. He was trying to intimidate me, and well I had to threaten him."

I cocked my head, "Did you though?"

He quickly retorted, "Yes. Your father is an asshole. One day Karma will bite him in the ass."

"And do you think you are Karma?"

He chuckled, "No. I'm weak. I'd just die if I fought him. I'd still fight him if I felt like I had to though."

He has no clue how strong he really is. He wouldn't beat my dad, but he'd hurt him. He's so much stronger than I am and I don't think he knows it yet. We dropped the subject as he looked at the wound on my right arm that I sustained from Stain. He took off the old bandage and applied an ointment to it.

"Let that wound breath a bit. It doesn't need a bandage anymore I don't think," he said as he put the supplies away in the kit.

It was hard to not realize that he was home by himself. I remember how he mentioned that his father was shitty, so I'm guessing he isn't in the picture. But what about his mother. I looked around as he went to put the kit back and saw no pictures. There were no pictures of his family in the house and I thought that was strange.

Is he alone? Is that why he knew what to do with my wounds?

At the floor in between the cabinets and the fridge I noticed something. I bent down and reached into the small gap and pulled out a picture. The picture is of two boys smiling with the arms draped around each other's shoulders. The boy on the left looks like Kai. The one on the right has one blue and one green eye. His hair is a light green, lighter than that of Midoriya's.

I heard a footstep and turned with the picture in my hand. I saw Kai's face drop.

"W-where did you find that?" His voice trembled and cracked.

"It was here, in between the cabinet and fridge" I respond pointing to the gap.

He approached me and took multiple deep breaths. He didn't look at me, just the picture. "I thought I lost it." He wiped his left eye and cleared his throat.

When I handed him the photo he looked at it and then walked over to his couch where he sat down. His cat, almost sensing his change in mood, got down and jumped up on the couch and rested next to him.

"Kai, who's the boy?"

He didn't respond right away. I saw him take a couple deep breaths in an attempt to compose himself.

"This is my best friend, Haruto. This is from when we were 8 at my birthday party," he said with a weak chuckle. He looked at me with an even weaker smile, "He was the only one I invited to it."

The dam burst open for a moment as a tear streamed down his face. Before it could reach his chin he wiped it away and tried to compose himself again. I sat down next to him and said, "You don't have to say anything else if you don't want to."

A part of me was uncomfortable seeing him cry and unload all of this. It was so unexpected and it's not something I'm used to dealing with. I'm not the person he should be opening up to.

"It's okay, Shoto," he said before clearing his throat. I used to hate how he called me Shoto. I remember when he did I yelled at him. He then proceeded to call me Todoroki until just recently. The way he says it is so different than my dad does, that it makes me look at the name in a different light.

"I should apologize," he adds. "I shouldn't put this on you. I mean you just picked up a stupid picture and..." he trailed off. "You must think I'm crazy."

I shook my head and instinctively grabbed his wrist. It was like how my mom did when I visited her after the Sport Festival. When I apologized to her for not coming to see her sooner and for being the monstrosity I am today. She told me in a sweet but ragged voice that I had nothing to be sorry about and grabbed my wrist lightly. We shared a glance and hugged putting the years of guilt and regret in a box and sending it far away.

"You have nothing to be sorry about, Kai. I'm not sure how much help I can be but I owe you to try."

He took a moment as his thumb rubbed up and down the photo. I knew what he was going to tell me was horrible. I didn't how horrible it was going to be, but I wanted to know. I wanted to know about Kai, who's been there for me when I've needed him no questions asked. If I can return the favor and help Kai then I will. I'm just not sure how to help him.

"A couple months after this photo was taken he was diagnosed with cancer, the worst villain anyone can face. He always wanted us to be heroes. Heroes that worked together to be better than any other individual hero, including All Might." He took another moment to gather himself. "2 months later he died. The week before he did though he..." His voice cracked and died off. The dam collapsed and his head did so into his arms as he dropped the photo onto the ground.

I froze for a moment. What do I do in this situation? Do I just tell him it's okay? Isn't that a lie? He's not okay, obviously. So no I can't say that.

I pick up the photo and place it on the armrest next to me. Then I hesitate as I place my hand on his back as he mutters, "We're going to be the best heroes who are best friends. That's what he said." Kai just kept crying as I awkwardly held my hand in place on the nape of his neck.

"I'm sorry, Kai," I barely mustered to get out as my mind spins around the words he's placed in it.

Eventually he was able to regain his composure but the Kai I was looking at was a shell of his former self. He was so vulnerable and destroyed I was unsure how to proceed after I removed my hand.

"It's whatever, Shoto. There's nothing I can do about it now. I couldn't protect him." He got up and walked into the kitchen, his cat right behind him.

Something went off in my head. He blames himself for his friend's death? How? He couldn't save him from cancer. This is why he saved Midoriya and I at the USJ incident. This is why he did what he did when we dealt with Stain and that Nomu. His conviction is that strong. He won't allow himself to fail to save a friend again.

I stood up from the couch, picture in hand. "You can't blame yourself Kai," I said in an annoyed voice. "Your memory of him is filled with so much sadness because you think you should've protected him from cancer? Kai, that's wrong. Look at this picture," I said holding the picture in front of him. "This is happiness. You both are smiling. This is what your memory should be. You can't defeat cancer Kai but right now all you are defeating is this picture and the happiness you shared with him."

I could feel myself getting emotional, like I was tapping into some deep-rooted issue that I haven't addressed with myself. I mentally shook my head to get those thoughts out of my head because this wasn't about me. Not now.

Kai, taking a step closer, looked at me and the picture. His eye looked so lost, but he wasn't crying. Was he mad?

He reached out and carefully took the picture from my hand and looked at it. He rubbed it again like he did when we were on the couch. "Thank you."

He didn't say another thing before walking away with the photo in his hand. When he came back I was leaning up against the kitchen counter rubbing the burn scar on my face. Because of my quirk the scar takes a different appearance. It doesn't deform my skin like most burn victims, but it damages the pigment giving a more reddish look to it.

"You never asked how I got this scar." I said softly.

"You never offered to tell me."

We looked at each other in a silence glance, one we've given each other a few times. Somehow we understand each other that a glance is all it takes.

"You already know that my father isn't exactly a family man. He married my mother for her quirk. He believed that his fire quirk combined with her ice quirk would spawn a child with an unmatched advantage. Imagine my father but with ice. That was his goal for me. Everything and everyone else was meaningless, including my mother. She saw him in me."

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "I overheard her talking about leaving because of me. I loved her so much and it broke me hearing her saying that. But then she did this," I said pointing to the scar. "That broke me more than anything. My father locked her away in a hospital leaving me with nobody."

Kai just stood next to me, looking over at me every once and a while. Even though I kept my eyes straight ahead, away from him, I knew he was listening intently. "I saw her after the Sport Festival. I know I still remind her of my father but I don't want to be like him, Kai," I said looking at him. "I want to be better. I want to be like All Might. I want to be like you and Midoriya. But. But with my father, he's like a cloud that hangs over me trying to snuff out who I want to be."

The lump in my throat got bigger.

Kai threw his arm around me and lightly rubbed my left shoulder. I finally looked at him, catching his glance. "If I'm not alone in my pain, you will not be left alone in yours, Shoto."

We didn't really say anything else, too drained from the night to open up any further. He told me to go clean up in the bathroom before going to sleep so I did.

Looking in the mirror, I let a moment of weakness get the best of me. It was a small moment but it relieved so much pressure building inside of me. After cleaning up I walked out with my wife beater in hand. It was like he read my mind, because when I opened the door he was standing there with a shirt for me.

I threw it on as I walked into the kitchen where he was. It was a little snug since his stature is slightly small than mine, but it was good enough.

"You are free to stay the night, if you want," he offered. "My bed is big enough for the both of us, but you can sleep on the couch. It just may not be the most comfortable thing."

I thought about it for a moment. My body was aching from the fight with Stain and the beating I took from my father. The couch probably wouldn't be a great idea so I hesitantly accepted the offer of sleeping in his bed.

We didn't talk once we got into the bed. We just laid there thinking to ourselves before we slept. When he turned over to his side facing away from me there was a moment when I wanted to say something to him but I didn't. I just turned over myself and faced away from him as well. I was exhausted from talking, unsure what tomorrow would bring me.

At least now I know I have someone looking out for me.


	18. Chapter 18

*Kai*

It's been a few days since Stain was detained and the feeling the air has definitely changed. I'm now hearing more and more people talk about the role of heroes. People aren't exactly signing up to Stain's ideology but they are talking about it which is dangerous in of itself.

I've also had to endure more harassment from people as well. Yesterday I was just walking the street and had people call me an abomination. I'm used to people calling me that, but one man said that I should be detained and put down.

I'm just like every other person who has a quirk. Is it really that scary that someone has more than 1?

I've tried searching for more people with multiple quirks, but it's been hard. I talked to this boy, Justin, who is my age, in the United States. He has 2 quirks; the ability to shine a light with his fingers and the ability to absorb explosive like attacks or so he put it. He tells me that public opinion in the states is mixed. Since he lives in California he can live freely, However, in some areas he can be arrested and put away forever. One state even allows electrocution in order to make multi-quirked people forget how to use 1 or all of their quirks.

In Japan I know of at least 2 others, however I lost contact with them after the Sports Festival. It seems that my new found "fame" has scared them off. I can't say I'm surprised but whatever.

Today is the first day back to UA from our week of internship. Some of my classmates catch up with each other as we all wait for Mr. Aizawa to arrive. Denki and Kaminari are ribbing Bakugo for his hairstyle. Apparently Bakugo interned with Best Jeanist, which makes no sense whatsoever. Best Jeanist is known for being punctual and very, um, professional. Bakugo is neither of those things.

I head over to Shoto who's sitting by himself.

"How are the ribs?" I ask.

"They are fine. Still a little bruised, but I think they are okay."

I haven't talked much to him since the night he showed up at my place. We unloaded a lot on each other, breaking down our own walls and getting to know each other in a way I never expected. Telling him about Haruto was a very liberating yet horrifying thing for me to do, but the relief I felt afterwards was second to none. He helped me realized how I was ruining the memories I had with Haruto because of my absurd belief that I could've saved him.

He looked over to Midoriya and asked, "Does he know? You know, about that night."

I shook my head. "It's between us and only us."

Shoto nods as I spot Midoriya looking on. He catches my eyes and raises his green brows slightly. "I'll see you later Shoto."

I walk over to Midoriya and his friends, no, our friends. Midoriya remarks that his wounds healed pretty well but that Recovery Girl was not pleased to see him. He asked to train with me again, and who was I to say no.

Mr. Aizawa didn't come to class. Instead it was All Might and he quickly took us outside to Field Gamma. He told us to take our uniforms, which meant we were in for some training. Guess it was time to see what we've learned from our internship.

When we arrived All Might split us up into 5 groups. 4 groups consisted of 4 students while 1 had 5. I was in a group with Asui, Todoroki and Bakugo. We were the 2nd group to go behind Midoriya's group. Midoriya was considered the underdog but he showed off some new techniques. He finally realized that his quirk gives him a speed boost.

For my group, I know I'm the underdog. My quirks offer me little advantage. I could use my explosive quirk but the unfortunately thing about that is that it has to hit something. This training session is like a rescue mission so destroying shit probably would give me demerits. I have to use my innate skills, which I'm not sure will help me do better than 4th place.

Todoroki will ice his way to the end. Asui has that tongue. She won't win, but she'll finish faster than me. Bakugo will blast his way to the end. His blasts don't need to hit anything. They can explode in the air giving him an instant boost.

When we were given the green light to go the other 3 were quick to move. I took my time and jogged. I had to think of a way to get to the end and fast. That's when I noticed hooks hanging down at certain points in the path.

I ran.

There was a new found speed in my legs, presumably from the all the running I did last week under Mr. Aizawa's lessons. I grabbed on a hook and swung myself up and grabbed something. Then I used my feet to bounce off a wall to propel me forward. I was able to do with this with pinpoint accuracy because of my eye quirk. It was easier for me to figure out the angles I needed to take as I hopped from platform to platform or when I popped off the side of a structure.

Before I knew it I had passed Asui and I had Shoto in my sights. He was gliding on his ice while looking back. He seemed somewhat surprised to see me. That's when a blast occurred near the platform I was jumping on.

Bakugo.

This caused me to lose my footing and fall to the ground. I quickly got up as Asui passed me and ran. I couldn't spot another way to get up so I was forced to run and not stop.

I beat Asui and took 3rd. Bakugo beat Shoto for first.

When I got back to All Might and the rest of the students, Midoriya came up to me and asked how I was able to get 3rd.

"Mr. Aizawa liked having me run," I said with a chuckle. Meanwhile, I spotted Bakugo talking to Kirishima. I decided to approach him even though Midoriya tried to stop me.

"That was bush league, Bakugo." He just smirked. "Next time I respond with my own firepower." I held my hand up and held a yellow blast up to his face. There was a moment of seriousness in the air as I had just about enough of Bakugo's shit. I wasn't a doormat.

Before it could escalate All Might stepped in. "Woah woah boys. Now relax and step away from each other. No need to get out of hand."

I glared a Bakugo for another moment before turning around, "Remember that threat," I remark before walking away. I looked over to Shoto and smiled. As we watched the other groups go, Midoriya came up to me and asked why I antagonized Bakugo.

"Listen, I know you care about him and I respect that. You see him in a totally different light than I do. I'm not going to let him walk all over me."

"Like I do?" he asked in what I thought was an accusatory tone.

"I didn't say that, Midoriya."

He shook his head. "I know I know. I'm sorry. It's just I grew up with him and I know how much he admires All Might. I know he's rough around the edges, but I don't think he's a bad person."

I saw the way he looked at Bakugo. "You admire him."

Midoriya's face gave it away before his words did. How can someone so polar opposite to Bakugo admire him? Maybe he just admires Bakugo's abilities which surpass him and maybe everyone in the class. I recall watching Midoriya's run in this exercise. He was utilizing some of Bakugo's moves. I also remember reading through Midoriya's little notebook. He had a sizeable section on Bakugo.

"It's fine Midoriya. I get it now."

Midoriya smiles weakly. "I admire you just as much." He looks away, "I thought you'd like to know."

I couldn't help but smile and pat his shoulder as I walked by him. "Same here, buddy."

All Might gathered us together and congratulated us on a good day of training. He brought us back to the school where we went to the locker room to shower and clean up. As I was changing into jeans Shoto came up to me with just a towel wrapped around his waist. It made feel awkward, as it usually does in the men's locker room. I just wanted to leave.

He looked at my abdomen and saw the massive bruising that I sustained from the Nomu and then the fall today due to Bakugo. "How come you didn't say anything?"

I shrugged, "It's not a big deal. Nothing is broken."

I fiddled with my shirt and dropped it. Shoto looked at me weirdly, "You okay?" I nodded quickly and put the shirt on.

"I have to go to the bathroom," I lied. I didn't wait for him to respond, I just walked right by him and left the locker room. Mr. Aizawa was waiting outside and told me to stay put. So I did.

One by one my fellow peers left the locker room and were stopped by Mr. Aizawa. Even though our school day was over, he wasn't done with us. He brought us back to the classroom where he told us that he watched us perform and was disappointed by a few of us. He looked at me as if he was indicating I was on of the people he was disappointed by.

Even Shoto caught Mr. Aizawa looking at me. I shrugged at Shoto.

What could I had done differently?

Meanwhile, Mr. Aizawa gave us a run down of what's to come. Starting in a few days would be the final exams. The final exams will consist 3 days of written tests and then a practical which will likely focus on the physical aspect of our abilities. Afterwards we will have a couple weeks to enjoy some summer time before going to a forest lodge to do intensive training.

Some of the students like Kaminari and Kirishima mutter about the written parts. Momo mentions how they should be find if they pay attention in class. That got a cackle out of Hanta. Momo offered to help them study for the exam. That stated a cascade of chit-chat about studying.

I'm not worried too much about the written portion of the tests. With recent events I'm thinking the school will focus more on the practical. We're already more advanced than previous 1-A classes. They'll have to mix things up compared to previous years.

Once class is over I decided to stay after to talk to Mr. Aizawa. I tell Midoriya to head out to the field and I'll meet him.

"Is there something wrong, Kai?"

Well besides the fact that you seemed to indicate that I disappointed?! "Yes. Did you ever find out about why I didn't get any internship offers?"

Mr. Aizawa walked over to the classroom door and closed it. "No, I didn't. The best I can go on is that someone as it out for you."

"Because I'm an abomination," I reply recalling what people say to me in public.

"Do you really think you are an abomination?"

I shake my head. "No, I just can't help but hear when people call me that."

Mr. Aizawa sighs, "Ignore them. They are nothing."

I don't respond. Instead I nod and get up from my seat and approach the door. "What about Endeavor?"

"Excuse me?" Mr. Aizawa says taken aback.

"Could Endeavor be responsible? We had a run in at the Sports Festival."

Mr. Aizawa looked at me, but broke concentration for the first time ever. He looked outside and then back at me. "You have been connecting well with his son. Knowing Enji, he probably doesn't like that. And knowing you, you probably don't give a damn."

I nodded.

"I'll look into it, Kai. However, don't be tossing that accusation out there freely. Do you understand?" I nod again before leaving the classroom.

I couldn't help but feel angry thinking about Endeavor trying to ruin my future. All because of what I said to Shoto. I shouldn't be this angry, not when I'm going to train with Midoriya. I have to put aside my anger for now.

Midoriya is doing some light stretching as he waits for me. When I approach him he pops to his feet and smiles. I ask him how he wants to train. That's when he tells me that he's mastered the ability to utilize 5% of the raw power of his quirk. I don't know exactly what that means, in terms of power, but he is capable of not breaking his body with his new found control.

Time to put it to test then.

He comes at me at 5% and it's definitely stronger than I expected. I wonder how comparable it is to him going 100% when we started school. It's probably not as strong but it's probably more than 5% due to all of his training. His 100% now is greater than his 100% then.

He's also faster and better at making adjustments, even in the air. I was able to block his punches with my arms thanks to my eye ability, but then he took me by surprise. He did something my eyes couldn't predict in time. I was able to get my elbow down so that his foot grazed it, but it still slammed into my side and send me stumbling back. I lost my footing giving him another opening to hit me, but instead he kicked my leg and then punched me in the stomach sending me further back but this time on my rear.

I try to get up faster, but my abdomen forces me to take it slow. The two blows to it have re-aggravated the bruising. I'm really glad my bones can't break now.

Midoriya sees that I'm in pain so he stops and asks if I'm okay. My eye catches a figure standing at the side of a tree. Mr. Aizawa.

I nod.

"I'm good. Just a little bruise. Keep bringing it Midoriya, and bring more power behind it."

We started again but he wasn't giving me more power, which was frustrating me. I was more focused now that I have a feel for his instincts. I blocked each of his attacks for the next minute or two and then I surprised him with one of my small blast attacks that I exploded near his chest. This allowed me to grab his arm and pulled him closer to me bringing my knee into his stomach. Still holding his arm I fling him to the floor.

"I told you to hit me harder, Midoriya. How are you going to get better if you don't try?"

He staggers to his feet and rubs the dirt off his shirt until he gives up when he realizes it's ripped. He takes off his shirt and I immediately notice him bulk up.

Now we're talking.

He bolts off his feet and comes at me directly. He doesn't adjust in the air at all leaving him wide open for me to hit, but that's the point. He knows I won't take the easy shot. I brace for impact and watch his arm beam towards me.

The impact causes my whole arm to rattle. It's slightly stronger than his previous attacks, but his placement is also different. He hit a nerve which caused the rattling and weakening feeling in my arm.

Is this one of his theories of how to beat me? Impressive.

He keeps up the attacks giving me little time to maneuver and block him that I allow a couple to hit me so I can further study him. I block one of his punches by grabbing his arm and falling back. With the force of my body and strength of my arms I fling him into the air several meters away as I hit the ground.

I bounce back up and run towards him, but he's already landed and jumped into the air. Another opening. I jump up and see exactly where he is going. He's planning to let himself get caught so he can knee me. It's the only reason he's allowed himself to be this open. He knows that I can see the opening.

I pretend to seem like I'm going to block his punch, but at the last minute I blast my right leg to turn my body just slightly so that I can wrap my left arm under his body and towards his back. His punch misses completely, but his knee hits. I blow up another energy blast near his left thigh giving me the ability to turn his body as we slam into the ground.

I'm on top.

I look down at Midoriya with my left arm holding his arm down and my right hand holding an energy blast up against his bare and dirty abdomen. We're breathing heavily as we both take stock of the situation and realize what just happened.

He smiles.

"You knew?" he asked in between his deep and rapid breaths.

I nod as I rest the tension in my right hand causing the blast to disappear. I can feel my hand rise and fall rapidly as it rests on his abdomen. For a moment I look into his eyes as we both smile.

That's when something in my mind clicks and causes me to jump up quickly. T-that was weird. I look away from Midoriya as he gets up. I can feel my heart is racing but I can't tell if it's from the fight completely or this stupid feeling I had moments ago.

"Kai, are you okay?" a worried Midoriya asks.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. "I'm fine, too much adrenaline I think."

That's quite the lie, but Midoriya brought it. "Haha yeah. That was awesome. You attacked yourself to move your body."

His smile calmed me even though my mind was still trying to figure out what had just happened. I looked over to the tree where I had seen Mr. Aizawa, but was no longer there. In a weird way I think he enjoys Midoriya and I training like this.

Even though I had an awkward moment today, I too like this form of training. I would've never thought about attacking myself if Midoriya didn't step up his tactics. He forced me to actually think during a fight.

That's when training Midoriya became about training us both. Even he knew it and embraced it.

* * *

A/N: Just a heads up that I may take a small break from this fic. I have future chapters lined up already but I'm re-editing them and that takes time. There's a lot I want to do story-wise and I don't want to mess it up. With that said I would really appreciate some reviews. It's hard to gauge how I'm doing otherwise.


	19. Chapter 19

Over the last 3 days we've been taken the written part of the final exams. It wasn't very hard, but some of the students seemed to disagree. I didn't find it very overtly complicated, it was more testing our common sense more than anything.

Next up was the practical, which we had heard would consist of battling robots. Apparently this is what the school has done traditionally. However, as I suspected they were going to do something different this time. Principal Nezu announced that the teachers would be involved in the practicals. The students would have to face the teachers.

I personally wanted to face Mr. Aizawa or All Might but I wasn't picked to do so. Instead, Bakugo and Midoriya got All Might while Momo and Todoroki got Mr. Aizawa. I was placed on a team with Sato and Kirishima and we were to go up against Cementoss.

A very weird choice of teacher for me to go up against but I'll take it. All we have to do is handcuff the teacher or escape out the designated area.

My team was first to go and I already knew how Kirishima and Sato were going to deal with Cementoss. We all knew Cementoss would create multiple walls between us and him. There wasn't much we could do but break our way through.

Within the first few minutes it became clear the plan wasn't working, nor did it have a chance of doing so. This is why we were teamed up go against him. It was meant to test our adaptability when our brute force is walled in.

After 20 minutes, Kirishima and Sato were growing tired. Sato could no longer go and Kirishima was struggling to hold onto his hardened form. I had sapped quite a bit of my energy, which I realize was a mistake.

Oh well. I failed to adapt so brute force is all I had left.

"Big Bang Blast!" I yell as I send a blast towards the wall directly in front of me. It moves us forward but I know we are still too far. I keep blasting away at the walls but I can feel my legs begin to get heavy. I was eradicating a lot of my energy with these blasts and I wasn't close to Cementoss.

"Fuck!" I yell as duplicate a Big Bang Blast. I send the blasts forward and repeat the process again. At this point I've gotten ahead of Sato and Kirishima as Cementoss creates more walls.

My legs falter and give out causing me to fall to the ground.

"1 minute remains" a voice says on the PA system.

Dammit.

I pounded my fist on the ground. I can't give up here. I have to push myself even further. This can't be my limit. Time to push it.

I stagger to my feet and clasp my hands together to create a big bang blast. The yellow glow pulsated as my energy flowed through it. I brought it up slightly to my chest and tried to squeeze it. But I wasn't doing that exactly. I was compressing it's energy and making it more volatile.

Kirishima caught up and placed his hand on my shoulder. "Are you sure you can handle this?"

I shook my head, "Nope but we are training. What's the point of training if we can't break through our own barriers."

He nodded and stepped back. My right leg nearly gave out but I fought it and stayed up.

I took my hands and spun the energy blast. I knew the clock was ticking so I couldn't get it to where I wanted to, plus I didn't have the energy.

This is all I have. I sent it forward and watched it blast through multiple walls before I stopped being able to control it. The explosion ripped through the walls in front me as I fell to the ground. I could barely turn my head but when I did a voice came up on the PA system, "Time has expired!"

Cementoss stands in clear shot from where I'm standing. It's the first time I saw him since the test began.

I failed.

I didn't think I could get up but I mustered the energy to do so before Cementoss got to me.

"You did well," he said to me as if that was supposed to be a consolation.

I didn't look at him.

Kirishima and Sato made their way to us and they expressed disappointment in failing as well. I didn't look at them even when they offered to help me walk back.

"I should've let them waste their energy. I shouldn't have done anything until they expended everything. I would've had enough to get to you. Instead...instead I got to caught up in worrying about their weaknesses than my own strengths."

I walked away disappointed and angered in myself. I didn't bother going to the waiting room where the students were watching the final exams. I don't need to watch them succeed when I failed. In the locker room I look at my hands as if they failed me, but I know it's not.

It doesn't stop me from punching the my locker door.

"You're that mad, huh?" a dull voice says behind me.

"Not now, Shoto."

I threw my sweaty shirt in a bag and took a deep breath. I could hear him approach me until he's finally standing next to me, back up against a locker.

"You were right about what you said. You weren't selfish enough, Kai."

I glared at him. "If you are here to tell me how stupid I am, then just leave Todoroki. I'm not in the mood."

His eyelids spread apart slightly, but went back to his usual piercing look. "Todoroki, huh? Okay then."

He didn't say anything else, but he stood there and watched as I grabbed the clean shirt I had place on the bench. Before I put it on I grew further annoyed at how he stare, no, glared at me.

"What are you still doing here?" I bark.

He shook his head. "You don't get it, do you?"

I sighed. "No, I clearly don't. Why don't you help me get it!?"

My voice was angry but almost desperate.

He stepped away from the wall, "It's what we've already discussed, Kai. You can't help yourself but focus on others around you even if it's a detriment to you." My mind tried to make sense of what he was saying before he added to it. "You knew Sato and Kirishima had limits, but you didn't want them to waste it and fail to keep fighting. This made you think the only option you had was to get them as far as you could..."

I interrupted him, "Instead of thinking about how far they can get on their own."

He nodded and took a step closer to me and placed his right hand on my still bruised abdomen. As he lightly iced it he said, "Your bones may not break, but they still bruise Kai. When I came to you that night, you brushed off your own injuries as you made sure to take care of mine. Your biggest strength; how much you care about your friends, is also your biggest weakness."

I couldn't believe how I didn't see it before. Shoto's words inflamed my mind causing it to reconsider my whole philosophy. I shook my head to stop any overthinking. He's right. That's it.

I sighed. "Since when did you learn how to talk so much," I say exhausted.

He shrugged with a small smile. I couldn't help but smile back and then chuckle with him. I decide to lounge about before making it back for Midoriya and Bakugo's attempt to take on All Might.

Kirishima comes up to me to apologize for being "weak," as he put it. I shake my head and force a smile. "Don't apologize. All three of us were weak and could've done better." It was pointless for me to kick him down further. I shouldn't have said what I said in that moment. I was angry and bitter, but mostly at myself and yet I took it out on him and Sato.

But I wasn't going to apologize for it. What's done is done and we'll move forward from it, hopefully better.

Meanwhile, Bakugo and Midoriya were doing well to mix things up against All Might, but they were clearly outclassed. Each time they got ahead, All Might caught up and knocked them down...literally at some points.

With just a few minutes left Midoriya proved just why he's one of the most gifted students in the class, and also why I admire him. He puts his body through the ringer to attack All Might and then rescues Bakugo when he didn't have to. He could've escaped on his own and they would've won, but instead he ran back for Bakugo to escape with him together.

I wasn't the only one who's biggest strength was their biggest weakness.

Because I already changed my clothes I was left alone as the rest of the class cleaned up. Mr. Aizawa appears next to me and asks how I think I did.

"I failed, no?"

He stood silent for a few seconds, "Judging by your conversation with Todoroki, I don't think you did."

I looked at him. He heard my conversation with Shoto in the locker room.

"You and him are close but near polar opposites. It makes sense for you two to spot weaknesses in each other that you couldn't see."

I look away, "Yeah. I care about him if that's what you are getting at."

"And he cares about you, something I don't think he knew how to do before you came along. You've taught him how to care about others. Now he's teaching you to care about yourself. It's ironic."

I sighed in annoyance. "So, what, you can talk for a long time too?!" I'm so used to Mr. Aizawa being brief and short, almost terse with me and everyone else. These long sentences and over explaining shit is a bit much.

He sighed, "You didn't fail, Kai. Not one bit. I want you to know that."

Mr. Aizawa had just said the most positive thing he's ever said to me or any student that I've heard. He doesn't add to it or wait for my response. He just leaves me to think about what he just said.

What the fuck, Mr. Aizawa.


	20. Chapter 20

***Kai's POV***

Today was another off day for the class before we take off to some lodge in a forest. I was set on doing absolutely nothing today until I got a text from Midoriya.

_Midoriya: Hey, some of us are heading to the school to use the pool and train._

_Me: Who is some of us?_

_Midoriya: Uh, Kaminari and Mineta. I'm also going to invite the rest of the class._

_Kaminari and Mineta, huh? Those two aren't interested in training, especially Mineta._

_Me: Are the girls in the class there?_

_Midoriya: Yeah why?_

I laughed and rolled my eyes.

_Me: Let me guess. They came to you to ask Mr. Aizawa to use the pool for training, right?"_

_Midoriya: Yup. I thought it was a great idea._

_Me: Geez, Midoriya. They used you to see the girls._

_He took a while to respond back._

_Midoriya: Damn, you're right. Well um can you come anyways?_

_Me: Ugh, fine._

I got up from my desk leaving my computer on because I was in the middle of sending an email to someone. I'll get to it later I guess.

When I arrive at the pool almost everyone is there. They were waiting for Bakugo to arrive before training. I went over to Midoriya who was sitting with his legs in the water talking to Iida.

Midoriya looked over at me and then looked down to my abdomen. "You're healed!"

I nodded. "Yeah, the bruising is gone and it feels pretty good now."

Midoriya smiles, "That's good to hear."

Iida takes a moment to ask me about Mr. Aizawa and how the internship was. Before allowing me to respond he mentioned how he and Vlad King are here currently discussing something. I briefly wonder if they are talking about my internship issue, but then I realize how self-centered and nonsensical that sounds. They are probably talking about the students with regard to the training we'll be undertaking starting tomorrow.

I tell Iida that he just pushed my stamina and that he didn't allow me breathing room whatsoever.

"He didn't go over the dangers that will face us once we become pros?"

I shook my head.

"Why would he?" Midoriya asks. "Kai has already seen it first hand." I give him a look, worried he's gonna tell Iida about my mom. "He was there when we captured Stain. He fought that Nomu."

Phew.

"I guess you are right." Iida pondered, "So what did he say?"

I shrugged. "Not much. It's Mr. Aizawa. He mostly tore me down." I looked at Midoriya and chuckled with him.

Iida wasn't as amused. I fear he expects too much from our teacher, when in fact our teacher expects too much from us. Or the right amount. That's what we have to determine, that's Mr. Aizawa's teaching style.

"I never thanked you for that night, Kai." Iida says softly. His eyes gloss over a bit.

"You don't have to Iida. We're friends and I was just doing what any friend should do," I said with a smile. He nodded and thanked me anyways.

When Bakugo arrived Midoriya and Iida came up with an idea for intensive training. We would take turns swimming in the pool for 15 minutes at a time. Because of the size of the pool we are able to split the class up into 4 groups. 3 groups would have 5 students while the 4th would have 6.

Bakugo and Kirishima couldn't help but suggest that we should make a competition out of it. Who can do the most laps?

Before we are set to begin I decide to make sure the rules are simple. "We have to swim. No use of our quirks."

That got some groans. "What the hell is the point then?" Bakugo yells.

I just look at him annoyed, "Stamina is important to a lot of our quirks. The ability for us to stay as close to 100% as we can is crucial."

Iida jumped in a clapped. "Yes, Kai is right. This is a perfect exercise to build our stamina and become better heroes."

Bakugo rolled his eyes but agreed to it. "You're all going to lose anyways," he said dismissively.

My group consisted of Shoto, Mineta, Momo, and Uraraka. How our laps would be counted would be by the group going after us. This meant that Hanta would be counting mine, Iida would be counting Shoto, Yuga would be counting Mineta, Mina would be counting Momo and Kyoka would be counting Uraraka.

Momo, Shoto and I went off fast and stayed close together for at least 5 laps around the pool. I decided to pull back a little bit in order to conserve my energy. It wasn't soon after that Shoto followed suit. It seems that he knew what I was doing. Momo didn't do that while Uraraka and Mineta were just helpless.

When after the 8th lap, Momo started to get tired and fell back to Shoto and I. She couldn't keep up once we passed he. When I heard Iida yell that we had 3 minutes remaining I decided to kick myself into another gear. I knew this would get Shoto to do the same, but that's what I want.

We push each other but after lap 11 I start to pull away. I'm pretty tired and I have to take more frequent gasps of air but I'm still plugging away. I don't have more than 30 seconds left so I need this last 50m to get another lap in. I don't take my head up out of water until my hand touches the wall.

"12 laps," Hanta says just as Iida calls time.

Shoto arrives to the wall soon after I did but he only completed 11 and a half laps. Momo finished 9 laps while Uraraka finished nicely at 8. Mineta did a paltry 5 laps and was gasping for air as we got out of the pool.

"Dear god Mineta. You're breathing more heavily than Kai is and he did 7 more laps than you," Kaminari remarked.

Mineta tried to muster a response but he couldn't. Everyone just jokingly laughed at him.

***Midoriya's POV***

I looked over at Kai who was approached by Shoto. They were talking about the competition and laughing, which never gets old for me. Since the beginning of the school year Shoto has changed a lot. He's less reserved than he was and a lot of that has to do with Kai I think.

Before Kai arrived today Shoto and I had a small conversation about him. I told him Kai and I have been training as of late.

"Is that why he keeps surpassing us?" Shoto asks jokingly.

I shake my head. "Nah. He's in a world of his own and he's just realizing it now."

Shoto stared at me for a bit, "You're seeing it too, huh? His convictions," he hesitated. "His convictions are allowing him to find new levels to reach faster than any of us."

Something about how he said that made me wonder if Kai has told him about his mom. I wasn't going to, but I decided to poke around the topic by mentioning how Kai lives by himself. Shoto acknowledged that but said that he hasn't broached the subject up with Kai. He assumes his parents don't support him based on what Kai said about his father.

"Kai never mentioned his mom, so I didn't ask," he added.

Is there something that I'm missing then? If Shoto doesn't know about Kai's mom than what else could it be? For a moment I grew concerned for Kai and I wondered what else he was holding on his shoulders.

Shoto looked at me, "Has he mentioned his mom to you?"

I wanted to tell him, but I couldn't go it. I couldn't betray Kai's trust. "Not really."

Shoto's look lingered on me for a moment as I looked away somewhat nervously. "Either way, he's too focused on saving his friends. I admire him but he's going to get himself killed."

"Don't say that," I quickly respond to Shoto. "He isn't going to get himself killed if we are there for him."

Shoto didn't move, he kept his eyes straight ahead at the trees in the distance. "As if he'll give us the option."

So watching Shoto and Kai talking now makes me realize that there is something more to Kai than he's letting on and Shoto knows about it. It must have to do with his past before UA. He's never talked about friends or other family but he has talked fondly about some memories where a friend could be applicable.

Do I even pry into his life or wait for him to me?

As they talk I notice Kai react strangely to when Shoto pats him on the back. It was brief but still there. I decided to walk over to him and strike a conversation. From the first moment I could see that something was bothering him. He looked a little spaced out.

"Hey, you alright?" I ask.

He snaps out of whatever trance he was in a mumbles through his words. "Oh, uh yeah. Yeah I'm fine, what's up?"

I shrugged. "What were you guys talking about?" He barely looks over to him before looking down.

"Not much really. Just about the competition."

I motion for us to go walk away from everyone else and to a bench. When I go to sit down I accidentally bump into causing him to move over a bit. "Sorry," I mutter in between a giggle. "So, um, have you told him about your mom?"

Kai looked at me with a tilted head, "That's the most random question you've ever asked me," he said with a chuckle. "No I haven't, but why are you asking? Because he told me about his?"

I sighed. "No, it's just I was talking to him earlier and...I don't know. He was concerned about you."

Kai smiled, "Yeah, he's been doing a lot of that lately." He looked over at Shoto and quickly looked away, smile vanished.

"You sure you are okay? You seem off."

Kai looked at me as if he knew he was caught and couldn't lie. I caught him rubbing his palm with his thumb. "I'm fine, just a little confused about things I think. My mind is clouded."

"You want to talk about it?" I press.

He shakes his head to my dismay. "I want to figure this out for myself," he answers with a weak smile. He gets up from the bench and tells me not to worry too much.

But then something happens that makes me worry about him more. Before it was my turn to swim, Momo pushed Shoto into the pool after he dried himself. This caused everyone to laugh at him, including Kai. When Shoto spots Kai, who is dry himself, he jumps out of the pool and jokes with him. Kai tells him to stay away but he's smiling. Shoto doesn't care and hugs him making him wet.

Kai's attitude changed in an instant. It was like he realized something was wrong. "Shoto, chill man. I told you not to touch me!"

The mood suddenly dimmed leaving everyone including Shoto speechless. When Kai realizes that we are looking at him he shakes his head and walks away. Shoto just watches him walk and says nothing. I want to go chase after him, but Iida looks over to me and says, "He's just going to change his clothes. He'll be back."

When I finished swimming, Kai wasn't here at the pool.

I went over to Shoto and asked him where Kai was. He shrugged and said he didn't know. "He's been acting weird lately. I don't know why."

I decided to leave and chase after him. I went to the locker room and grabbed my bag and threw a towel around my back before heading over to his house. It's the only place I know where he would be. What I was going to say to him, I didn't know. All I knew is that I needed to force him to talk to me about whatever the hell was bothering him.

Mr. Yairobi wasn't at the front of the building when I arrived. I thought about ringing Kai's apartment but I had a feeling he'd just ignore it, so instead I rang the doorbell that said Mr. Yairobi. A few moments later the old man opened the door.

"Ah the green haired boy, uh Midoriya, right?"

I nod.

"I believe I heard Kai in his apartment just a couple minutes ago. You should've rang his bell."

I panicked, "Oh uh yeah. It was an accident."

Mr. Yairobi looked at me and smiled. It was like he read my mind or something.

When I knocked on the door I heard Kai say, "Go away!" So I knocked again. This time I heard him approach the door. When he opened it he began to say, "I said go aw-" He froze. "Midoriya. What are you doing here?"

I brushed by him and into his apartment. "I can ask you the same question."

He sighed and closed the door. "I wanted to come home. Is that okay?" He sounded annoyed.

"We weren't done and you just left without saying goodbye."

He shook his head and scoffed at me. "I didn't want to go in the first place. I only did so because you asked me too."

"You could've said no," I said calmly trying to not be combative.

He wasn't having it. "Bullshit. You wouldn't have let me say no." He walked by and scoffed again. This time I grabbed his arm and turned him around. "Please don't touch me," he said trying to seem angry, but there was a clear dissonance between how he sounded before and how he did just now. He's almost forcing it.

"Why do you think I wouldn't let you say no?" I asked.

He sighed, "You're here right now."

"Because I'm concerned about you!"

He slammed his fist on the kitchen counter, "Well stop! Stop being concerned about me okay! Everyone seems to be concerned for me! I know I'm fucked up. I don't need people to keep reminding me of that."

His fist, closed, emitted a light blue glow. He stared at me trying to seem angry but I could see him beginning to shatter in front of me. I grabbed his hand that he had slammed on the kitchen counter and ask him what was wrong.

The wall came crashing down like TNT was blown up against it.

Within moments he broke down and collapsed into my arms. I didn't know what to do but just console him. I heard him mutter "I'm a fucking abomination," several times along with "I'm not normal."

Was this about what people have been calling him because of his quirks? No. He doesn't care about them. Then what is it.

He separated himself from me and rubbed the tears out of his eyes. He stood up and looked away from me, but I approached him slowly. "What do you mean you aren't normal, Kai?" I ask as I lightly place my hand on his shoulder.

He shrugs me off and says, "Please don't touch me." His voice cracks.

So I walk around him to look at him face-to-face. "Please tell me what's wrong, Kai. Let me help you."

He's fighting himself; his emotions, his tears and his mouth. His breathing becomes shaky and so does his body. He trembles as he opens his mouth. "It's Shoto."

I was confused. "What about him?"

He closed his eyes and fought the tears trying to come out. "I like him."

I didn't know how to react at first. I wasn't expecting him to say that because something like this just never entered my mind. But it makes sense. It's why he flipped out when Todoroki hugged him and why he's been acting a little weird about contact, even with me. He's disgusted with himself. That explains the moment when we were training and he fell on me. He told me it was adrenaline but it wasn't.

When I came here I had a goal in trying to figure out what was going with him. I was thinking it was something he told Todoroki, but no. It wasn't something he told Todoroki at all. It was something completely different, but it was about him.

"Kai. That doesn't make you an abomination or less normal." I place my hand on his shoulder and give him a light shake. He opens his eyes and rubs them again.

"What do you mean?"

I smile, "So what if you like him. I don't care."

"B-but it means I like guys."

Admittedly I don't know much about relationships and all of that, but I wasn't about to push my friend away. "It doesn't matter. Not to me anyways. You are still my best friend."

He tries to smile but he's still going through the emotions of telling me something that has clearly ate away at him. "That day when we trained and you landed on me. You didn't freak out because of adrenaline, right?"

He shook his head. "I was disgusted in myself. I was gonna tell you about my feelings for Shoto, but I was afraid you'd look back at that moment and be uncomfortable."

Gees. This whole secret really played a game with his mind. It warped him so much. I almost blame myself for not pressing him before.

"Kai, we were fighting and well I don't care if you are gay. I don't care if we made contact. It means nothing Kai and you shouldn't be insecure and beat yourself up about that. That's insane."

He looked away so I hugged him. He took a step back but relented. "I don't care that you are gay. You are my friend and that's that. Everything else is unimportant."

We stood there for a moment before I cracked a joke, "You do realize I'm not wearing a shirt right now."

He pushed me away lightly and said, "That's not funny."

I chuckled. "But see, I don't care. You just told me that you like guys and yet I, a guy, hugged you. Nothing wrong or conspicuous about it."

"But what if I liked you," he demurred.

"Are you saying you don't?" I joked.

"Midoriya!" he yelled as I laughed.

I shrugged. "Then who cares. I like Uraraka and it's not weird when we hug or make physical contact. Why? Because we are friends."

It felt like the right time to tell someone about my feelings for Uraraka, something I haven't addressed at all. I needed to convince Kai that all of this is normal.

"I see."

I took a deep breath, "Kai, you are an amazing person and friend. You care about people more than you should. It sucks that you happen to be on the wrong side of society, but I'm not leaving your side and I bet Shoto wouldn't either."

"I'm not going to tell him. I can't, not yet anyways."

"That's okay. You don't have to, but you need to put your fears aside. You got so damn worried about how I would react and look what happened. We're cool," I said with a grin.

He smiled lightly, "Yeah. We're cool."


	21. Chapter 21

***Kai***

It took me a long time to fall asleep last night. Midoriya hung out for a couple hours after I told him what was going on. I also told him about Haruto because I had told Shoto and it just made no sense to keep it from him. Midoriya made all of my worries go away with a hug and a few words.

When Midoriya left I had to call Shoto just to clear the air a bit about what happened today. I don't want to go to this lodge over break and things be awkward between us.

"Kai?" he answered.

"Yeah. Listen, uh, I want to apologize about today."

He was silent for a few seconds. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, I think I'm just mentally frazzled about everything that has happened."

He was silent for a few seconds again. "Okay. I'll see you tomorrow then."

Guilt started to settle in once he hung up. I wanted to keep talking but he saw right through my bullshit. He knew I was lying to him.

I didn't know how I was going to do it, but I knew I was going to have to tell him about this crush. It's going to destroy us if I don't. Hell it could destroy us if I do, but I think I'd rather that than the slow crushing of my heart if I say nothing. I don't even know when it started. I think it may have been during the Sports Festival when I realized I had feelings for him. Maybe during the USJ attack? Before? I don't know.

All I know is that it's been reaching a fever pitch lately to the point that it's taken me by surprise.

Another thing I had to do last night was finish the email I was sending. I decided after talking to Shoto that I should reach out to Justin. I know he's in the states, but I would like to open the door to meeting him. I'd love to go to the States, but I don't have money and I lost my job being a delivery boy due to abandoning an order or two when Stain attacked. Mr. Yairobi offered to speak to his daughter, but I told him not to worry. I was leaving to go to this lodge for a good chunk of break anyways. It's gonna suck leaving Sora but Mr. Yairobi promised to take care of her until I get back.

Mr. Aizawa had us get in a bus for the trip. I saw Midoriya sitting next Uraraka so sitting next to him was off the table. That's when I spotted Shoto sitting by himself. I walked over to his seat and asked if I could sit next to him.

"You think I'm going to say no?"

I shrug.

"Sit, Kai."

I sit down and place my small backpack in between my seat. Shoto sighs and says, "You lied to me last night. I don't know why, but I don't care." He looks at me, "You'll tell me whatever is going on in your own time and I have to be okay with that."

"Shoto...I'm sorry."

He shook his head, "It's fine. You're still my friend, right?" he asks softly, tone betraying the simmering look on his face.

I force a smile as my eyes dart to his pumping chest. His heart is beating faster than normal. He's nervous. "I wouldn't sit here if I was't."

He weakly smiles and looks away from me and towards the window next to him.

Shoto...

Mr. Aizawa orders us to quiet down and goes on about how this camp will push us to our limits and force us to find new ones. He gives us the option to leave if we think we don't have what it takes to handle it.

Kirishima looks at Mineta who exclaims, "oh real funny!" It gets a chuckle out of nearly everyone.

Except for Shoto who is still looking outside the window. I wanted to know what he was thinking but it was clear he needed time to himself.

The bus trip ended at a mountaintop. We were ordered off the bus where we were met by the Wild, Wild Pussycats. Midoriya did Midoriya things and muttered about them. He knew a lot, so much so that one of them had to shut him up. One of the Pussycats points us in a direction past the mountain top and the forest below. There we can see multiple structures. She tells us that is where the camp is and that we have to get there on our own. A few of the students, including myself, let out a groan.

"But be careful," Pixie-Bob says with a mischievous smile. "There might be some wild beasts running around. Good luck boys and girls."

And so it was a race to the camp. Bakugo and Kirishima were first to slide down the mountain side. When the rest of us joined them they were already running off. That's when we heard a rumble in the forest, which was then replaced by a roar.

I sighed.

The class worked together to take care of the first batch of monsters, but we started to get split up. I got stuck by myself thanks to Bakugo's stupid explosives. I was attempting to blow up a beasts backside as I climbed it, but Bakugo just hit it with his own blast sending me flying.

I climb up a tree, which takes a bit of effort since I've never done it before. I look for the structures in the distance to spot which direction I have to go. Once I get back to the ground I begin to run. It doesn't take too long for me to come up on a couple beasts. Agitated with this exercise I decide to get wreckless and blow a massive blast in the middle of the 3 beasts. This causes significant damage to the trees nearby but I don't care. I run.

By the time I get back half the class is already there.

I'm gasping for air with my hands on my knees when Bakugo remarks, "What took you so long, wonder boy?"

I look up and Midoriya instantly recognizes my look.

"You blew me up."

Bakugo shrugged, "Oh, I mustn't have seen you. I was too busy getting here first."

I swear I'm going to punch him one of these days. It wasn't going to be today because Mr. Aizawa abruptly interrupted us. "Enough you two. And Bakugo, it would behoove you to pay more attention so you don't hurt innocents or other pros."

Bakugo scoffed, "Wonder boy ain't a pro though."

"Neither are you," Shoto remarks sharply as he sits on the floor fixing his shoe.

Pixie-Bob chuckles. "Pro or not, he made it through this forest on his own and in fast time too while the rest of you worked together. The latter is commendable, but the former shows a mental and physical resolve we are not used to seeing in you first years." Bakugo scoffs but says nothing in retort.

Mandalay jumps in, "Yes, and that team work was exemplary too. Izuku, Shoto, Kastuki and Iida, you did well."

Midoriya points out a mysterious boy standing next to Mandalay who says that it is her nephew. Midoriya attempts to introduce himself, but it seems the boy, Kota, wants nothing to do with him. He punches him in the groin sending Midoriya to the ground.

You hate to see that.

Once everybody arrives we are told to clean up and come to the main building where we will eat. When I get to the eating hall all I see is food. There is an abundance of food, food I've only seen on tv or on paper in ads for restaurants. Or whatever I was delivering.

"What's wrong?" Midoriya asks me.

I smile, "Nothing. It's just so much food. I don't remember the last time I had a real meal."

"Well let's go get some food then."

I plop a bunch of steak and chicken on my plate along with a nice scoop of rice. Momo looks over at me as I eat and asks how come I haven't had a real meal in a long time. She then apologizes for eavesdropping.

"I'm poor," I say telling a half truth. I catch Mr. Aizawa's stare.

Momo looks confused, "So what do you eat?"

I shrug. "Whatever I can. Mostly it's ramen noodles."

"What about your parents?" Kaminari asks. "Don't they cook?"

Both Midoriya and Shoto look over at me and stop eating for a second. Not everyone is listening in, just these four, Iida, Uraraka and Asui. Also, Mr. Aizawa I'm sure.

"My dad is not in my life. He left when I was born."

Momo immediately apologizes and so does Kaminari. He feels bad for asking, but I tell them not to worry because I can't miss what I never had.

But then Uraraka asks me about my mom and I froze for a moment. Midoriya scolded her gently so not raise too much suspicion. Didn't change the fact that the question lingered in the air unanswered, while they looked at me.

Before I can answer, Mr. Aizawa interrupts the conversation. "Shouldn't you kids talk about how you could've done better today?"

We all look at each other, but Mr. Aizawa's eyes linger on me for a few moments. His isn't the only one. Shoto is looking at me too. He seems to be catching on while the others haven't. Just like that the question that lingered in the air vanishes. It wasn't answered and nobody is waiting for it to be answered. Once we finished eating it was time to find Shoto and make things sorta okay between us. I tracked him down and brought him outside so we can chat in private.

"I'm just going to come out and say it, Shoto. My mom was murdered 5 years ago in a villain's attack. Mr. Yairobi is the only reason I have a place to live."

Shoto looked concerned but didn't know what to say. "Midoriya knows, I take it."

I nodded and feared he was asking out of jealousy but I was wrong.

"Okay good. At least you told someone, because I don't know if you've noticed but you suck at compartmentalizing your shit." I sensed an ounce of annoyance in his tone, but I know it was well deserved.

"Yeah, I know. And I'm sorry for putting your through my shit."

He shrugs, "You stitched up my arm and told my father you'd kill him. Your shit is nothing like what I've put you through."

We both share an awkward but necessary laugh. I can't tell if it's because of our use of the word shit or the crazy idea of me killing Endeavor. Either way it brought a sense of normalcy to our friendship, which was lacking because of my insecurities. Shoto complained about being tired so he went to head in. He told me he'd save me a bed near him so I don't get stuck in the middle of the room. It's a little scary how much he knows me.

I decide to hang outside for a little while when Mr. Aizawa approaches me. "You can't tell anybody you live alone, you know that right?"

I nod. "I wasn't going to."

He sighs, "I'm sorry you are in this unfair position. I know you've told Midoriya and now Shoto about your mom."

Gees, does he hear all of my conversations?

"But please be careful. We can't have government officials find out that you live alone."

I was so lost. "Wait, woah. How do you know?"

He glared at me, "You don't think I do my research into the kids I teach? Kai Aribe. Aribe, that's your mother's maiden name, no?"

I nod.

"She had the ability to heal broken bones. A weird side effect of this quirk was bloody noses." I just looked at him as he said these things about my mom. "She worked at a hospital. She treated me one time several years ago. While she was treating me she told me that she had a son who wanted to be a hero."

I looked away from him as all of these sad feelings started creeping up.

"She spoke highly of you, Kai. I don't typically try to remember or listen to what strangers tell me but this was different." He took a moment and breathed. "The path you are on is exactly what she told me she wanted you to be on."

He turned around and started to walk away but in typical Aizawa fashion he wasn't done. "I really hope you no longer admire me. You deserve to look up to someone better."

I stand outside the building for a few minutes and replay the conversation I had with Mr. Aizawa. At least now I know why he wanted to help me with the internship. It wasn't just because he was my teacher, but because my mom helped him.

Oh and maybe because he knew I admired him.

But he was wrong when he said I deserve to look up to someone better. His actions at the USJ, putting himself at such a disadvantage in order to protect children is exactly the type of hero I want to admire. He's not flashy or well liked like All Might, but I don't care about that.

When I arrive to the sleeping chambers everyone is sprawled out in their own sleeping bag like item. Shoto whistles me over and points to the blanket and pillow next to him. I slept beside him thinking about my conversation with Mr. Aizawa and imagining what tomorrow will bring us at this camp.


	22. Chapter 22

***Shoto Todoroki***

Mr. Aizawa and Vlad King woke us up at the crack of dawn to get started on intensive training. The goal for me according to Aizawa and Tora is to get me to better utilize both of my abilities to the point where eventually I may be able to use both at the same time.

They literally place me in an oversized pot of water and have me switch between ice and heat. Something about regulating my body with the heat. I just have to do it for as long as I can and trust the teachers know what they are doing.

Across the way I spot Mr. Aizawa and Mandalay walking with Kai. They are heading over to this open field where there are multiple machines set up. Mandalay walks over to one of the machines while Kai stands away from them with Mr. Aizawa.

I can't tell what is being said but I watch a ball shoot out of the machine towards Kai. After a couple minutes Mr. Aizawa and Mandalay leave Kai to himself. That's when all of the machines turn on and shoot balls at Kai. From what I can tell it seems they are further testing his eye quirk, but he is also going to need stamina to keep going at the pace he is going. This will also help his blast quirk.

I'm not sure how his unbroken bones quirk could be made stronger. Kai hasn't divulged much information about it but I wonder if stamina is involved as well. His other two quirks are fed by stamina, so why wouldn't this one be? That also begs the question if his last quirk has a limit and can he actually break a little.

If he keeps punching at a brick wall well past exhaustion, could he break a bone?

I have my limits. If I use my ice quirk too much I freeze. I don't know my limits with the fire ability because I haven't focused on it. Bakugo can't use his quirk too much either. We all have our limits, as quirks tend to have. We just haven't seen all of Kai's limits because he's been able to blow past them every single moment.

Eventually Tora came up to me and told me to turn around and focus on my own training.

After about 2 hours I was finally told to get out so I decided to find Kai. I looked over to the field where he was earlier and was surprised to see him there still.

Mr. Aizawa was there as well. I stood next to him and watched Kai. He wasn't wearing a shirt so his bare skin was exposed and he had so many welts on his body. I spotted blood slowly dripping from his side and pointed it out to Mr. Aizawa and he wasn't concerned.

"Do you think he cares that he is bleeding?" He asked as he watched Kai intently.

I watch Kai focus on the balls as they come at him. Somehow he is able to dodge them, most of them. Meanwhile, I can barely keep an eye on more than 2 or 3 of them. Some of the balls hit him and he lets out a little frustration every time.

Mandalay approaches Mr. Aizawa and I and says, "It's time to wrap it up. The kids need to eat."

Mr. Aizawa doesn't respond as a ball smacks Kai in the face allowing 2 other balls to hit him as he falls to the ground.

"Wait," Mr. Aizawa says.

Kai forms a fist and slams his hand on the floor and yells, "Dammit." His fist turns a bright white for a brief second before he takes a deep breath. He pops up to his feet and looks at the machines and waits for them to fire. Mandalay goes to say something but Mr. Aizawa calmly shakes his head and changes her mind.

Kai responds to failing by moving faster. He successfully dodges everything but right before it ends he falls face first on the ground with several balls darting their way towards him. He can't get up so he fires off two blasts which propels him into the air dodging the rest of the balls.

"You've brought quite the intense student, Shota." Mandalay says.

Mr. Aizawa shakes his head. "This whole class is intense. He's just a strong representation of it."

Mandalay, with her hand slightly covering her mouth, "He has three quirks. Does he even have a ceiling?"

Mr. Aizawa looks at her, "Right now, it's only the one he creates. The same can be said for other peers of his," he says as he looks at me before walking away.

Alright, Mr. Aizawa, that wasn't necessary.

I walk over to Kai as Mandalay tells us to clean up and come back outside to the campfire. Kai smiles as his dirty sweat drips down his face and then his chin like a leaky faucet. He asked about my training and said that he hadn't been able to see anyone else train. His tone was kinda down as if he was upset about it. When I told him what I had to do I kind of downplayed it but he seemed even further annoyed about it.

I changed the topic quickly to his cuts and scrapes and offered to help him clean them out.

After we showered and cleaned up I sat with him on a bench outside the showers. I grabbed a couple medical supplies from Kota before our shower.

"So is this you paying me back for stitching you up?"

I nodded and applied some cream to the small cut below his right pectoral. A part of me wondered if he would freak out if I touched him after that day at the pool but he didn't. He definitely seemed off immediately when I placed the ointment on it but nothing like his previous reaction.

It still confuses me as to why he freaked out and why he proceeded to lie about it that night on the phone. However, he did call me to just put it aside so I'm not going to just stop talking to him. Clearly something is bothering him, but I can't tell if it's because of me or because of him.

I'd be lying if I said it didn't bother me that I was so unsure.

"How did you learn how to do stitches and all of that?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Well I lived on the street and then lived by myself. I had to learn how to take care of myself."

Except that didn't answer my question completely. "But learning how to do stitches?" I probed further. He looks at me and kind of nods. He looks down and points to an area just below and off to the side of his abdomen. There's a very small scar there and it's barely visible up against his skin.

"I had a bad moment with glass," he said with a chuckle. "Not my best moment."

There was a moment when I looked at him when I just couldn't help but feel warm and smile. To be honest I don't smile a lot, but that's probably because I don't have a lot to smile for. Also, my father says smiling is a sign of weakness, which is ironic because he's weaker than All Might who smiles all of the time.

But then there is Midoriya and Kai, specifically Kai. I tried to push him away at the sports festival, but he fought back. I didn't understand why he even bothered but he did and now I don't know what my life would be without him. He created a hole in my life and placed himself in it.

It's such a weird thing to think about. Almost makes me feel wrong and insane but I know it's not. Not when I watch him and Midoriya fight for their friends. This is something that I've never had and never felt.

I'm going to hold onto it even if it makes me weak.

Both Kai and I threw on some clean clothes and went outside when Mandalay told us that they would not be serving us food. It was our turn to make food, specifically curry. I looked at Kai who just shrugged and went right to work. It was quite the struggle to figure out what to do but eventually we all found a way and made ourselves dinner.

No it wasn't great, but it was good enough for us. We were all very tired and hungry.

Once dinner ended Kai walked off with Kirishima. I must've stared too long because Midoriya came up to me and asked, "Did you catch his training session?" He too was looking at Kai.

"Some of it. Seemed intense."

Midoriya nodded with a smile, "You think he's surpassed you?" There was a joking smirk on his face.

"Undoubtedly. To be honest I don't think I was ever ahead of him."

Midoriya cocked his head, "Maybe. You did beat him at the festival. However-"

"However, he quit," I interrupted, but tried not to sound bitter about it because I wasn't. Midoriya nodded. "How do you two do it?" I asked as my mind flipped.

He was confused. "Do what?"

I sighed, "How do you guys find a way to care for others? Like you don't have to be asked, you just do it."

He shrugged, "I don't know. I can't speak for him, but it just seems natural to me."

My mind wavered, "I see."

Midoriya didn't exactly let it end on that, "What's on your mind?"

I tried to look away and hope the conversation somehow flew away. I regret my meaningless line of questioning. I felt so inadequate as an aspiring hero. A part of me still battles with my conviction. For so long it was about beating my father, but lately it's been about becoming my own person; what my mom wants for me. Thing is I've been so programmed to be one way that it's not allowing me to be anything different. Then there is Midoriya and Kai and their words to me. I'm reminded of our battles at the festival and what they said to me.

And then there is Kai's threat to my father. He actually threatened my father to his face, all for me. That's insane and I still don't get why he did it. Did he just do it naturally? Like it just felt normal for him? How can that be?

"It doesn't seem natural to me," I responded quietly.

Midoriya didn't say anything right away. The air stagnated between us until he finally said, "Come," and walked away from the building. We walked silently for a bit until we were pretty far from the main area. We could still see it but it's unlikely we would be interrupted.

"You remember when Stain attacked Iida and me? You came to our rescue? Why?"

I shrugged, "I knew you wouldn't send that message if it wasn't important."

"But you came," he retorted.

I shook my head. "No. I didn't come because I thought you were in danger per say. When you and Kai see someone you care about in danger you don't think about the danger, you think about the one in danger." It was the best way I could word it without actually admitting my selfish reasons.

Midoriya sighed realizing that his first argument wasn't cutting it. So he tried another approach. "What about Kai?"

"What about him?"

Something seemed off about Midoriya, like he was trying to be careful with his words. "Do you care about him?" I nodded. "So would you do nothing if he was in danger?"

"Of course not."

He nodded and then continued, "Of course. Your dad. He's already tried to intimidate Kai. What if he makes good on it and attempts to hurt him? What if he was responsible for Kai not getting internship offers?"

I quickly and angrily responded, "I'd do anything for Kai even if that means going up against my asshole of a father. If I find out he was responsible, I'd ruin him." The words came out before I could think them and by the time I heard them it was too late to take them back or change them. But I didn't want to take them back. I meant them. Every single word.

Midoriya smiled, "Exactly. And so would I. He'd do it for us, hell he nearly did for me. But that's what will make us heroes."

I just looked away. "Todoroki, he cares about you. Maybe more than you realize, so he wouldn't appreciate you doubting yourself. That's why I brought us here, so he doesn't hear you or see us."

I don't think Kai could care about me more than he's already have, but in a way I believed it.

"Kai told me you threatened to quit UA if he had been expelled after the USJ incident. Why? I don't recall you really caring about him then?"

I shrugged. "It felt right. He saved my life, and I only got to UA because of my father. I knew UA wouldn't want me to leave the school. It would not look good for them so I had leverage." I told a half truth. Everything I just said was true, but it wasn't the complete truth.

It made no sense to tell Midoriya the rest.

We looked into the distance and saw a couple lights turn off, which meant it was getting late. So as we began to head back, Midoriya finally responded to what I said originally.

"Todoroki, don't ever question your convictions again. You've underestimated just how much you care for your friends."

I didn't say anything. I just looked at Midoriya as we jogged back to the main area and saw his smile. I couldn't rebut him. I wasn't 100% sure why but I knew he was right, and sometimes that's all there is to it.

When we got the sleeping area Kai was already passed out where he was yesterday. He had a hand stretched out next to him and under it was an empty blanket with a pillow on top. He saved me a spot.

I lightly moved his hand and laid down next to him.

Maybe one day I'll tell him the full truth of why I defended him to Principal Nezu. Right when I tell him why I was such a dick during the festival. 2 birds 1 stone.

* * *

_**A/N: I'm going to try and get back to a once a week upload as opposed to this once in every ten days rate I'm going on. I've spent a lot of time editing and figuring out how the next 4 chapters will go and I'm settled on the path. Obviously you all know what is to come and this is the point where I want to differentiate the substance of the story I'm trying to tell and the story the anime has told. **_

_**I would really appreciate reviews because it's beneficial to know if I'm doing well and whatnot. If there is confusion about something I'm always willing to PM about it. Finally, I've received one too many reviews on the romance/yaoi aspect of this fic as well. This story's focus is not romance. I think that's pretty clear ^_^**_


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